Global Impact | Japan faces uncertainties amid threats from China abroad and political and earthquake fears at home

In this week’s issue of the Global Impact newsletter, we take an in-depth look at Japan’s problems at home and abroad

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Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 2:00pm, 9 Sep 2024

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Even as Japan deals with military challenges and diplomatic skirmishes with China, it is beset by domestic worries and anxieties, including the resignation of its prime minister, health scares and a series of earthquakes, with authorities even warning of an impending mega earthquake.

In recent months, Tokyo has reported an increase in Chinese military manoeuvring near Japan, and earlier this week the Japanese foreign ministry said a Chinese naval survey vessel entered the Tokara Strait off southern Japan last weekend.

Days earlier, Tokyo expressed “strong concern” and lodged a protest with the Chinese embassy after a Chinese naval surveying vessel sailed close to Japanese territory, prompting Beijing to insist that it was a “legal passage” through international waters.

Last week, China’s embassy in Manila accused a Tokyo envoy of making “irresponsible remarks” over collisions between Chinese and Philippine vessels near a disputed South China Sea shoal.

In a bid to further counter China, Japan’s defence ministry submitted its largest-ever budget request this week, seeking US$58.1 billion in the next financial year to help safeguard the nation from what it termed as growing threats to the region’s peace and stability.

The move came just days after veteran Chinese diplomat Liu Jianchao urged visiting Japanese lawmakers to take “a long-term perspective” on ties between China and Japan and manage their differences constructively.