Japan’s local officials have taken to criticising Beijing – and Chinese diplomats aren’t happy about it

Envoys from Beijing have been accused of stepping up pressure on city and prefectural governments that adopt resolutions critical of China

Their complaints come as Tokyo and other US allies increase public scrutiny of Xinjiang and Hong Kong, and as tensions escalate in the East China Sea

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A Chinese demonstrator attends a protest against Japan’s “nationalising” of Diaoyu Islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:00am, 9 Aug 2021Updated: 2:17pm, 12 Aug 2021

Local Japanese officials have in recent weeks called attention to the actions of Chinese diplomats in Japan, accusing them of pressuring city and prefectural governments that adopt resolutions critical of Beijing.

Their complaints have surfaced as Tokyo and other allies of the United States increase their public scrutiny of China’s policies in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, and amid escalating tensions in the East China Sea, where Tokyo and Beijing are at odds over a group of Japanese-controlled islands known as the Diaoyu Islands in China and the Senkakus in Japan.

Last week, China’s ambassador to Japan, Kong Xuanyou, said Tokyo had “seriously disturbed China-Japan relations” by taking a dismissive attitude towards issues relating to Taiwan, Xinjiang and Hong Kong.

The Sankei newspaper last month reported that an official of the Saitama Prefectural Assembly had received a call from a person identifying themselves as a diplomat from the Chinese embassy in Tokyo.

Kong Xuanyou, China’s ambassador to Japan. Photo: Xinhua

The assembly, which governs the prefecture, in July adopted a resolution requesting that the Japanese government open an investigation into allegations of human rights abuses in China’s westernmost province of Xinjiang, and for Tokyo to make a formal protest if such allegations proved true.