Tokyo Rebuts China’s Claim of Rising Safety Risk in Japan

Tokyo, Nov. 22 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese Foreign Ministry has rebutted China’s claim that the safety risk is increasing in Japan, by releasing data on recognized serious crimes in Japan in which Chinese nationals were victims. In January-October this year, the number of recognized murder, robbery and arson cases in Japan where the nationality of the victims was Chinese stood at 28, down from 35 in the same period of 2024, the ministry said, based on the data from the National Police Agency. Such cases came to 48 for the whole of 2023 and 45 in 2024. The ministry noted that recent announcements by the Chinese government suggested a surge in criminal cases against Chinese nationals in Japan this year and an increase in the safety risk in the country. But the ministry rejected the claim, saying, “Such assertion is incorrect.” Following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent remark on a possible Taiwan contingency, China’s government called on citizens to refrain from traveling to Japan, citing the deteriorating security condition in the country. The Japanese ministry said the NPA data also include “cases where the nationality of the main suspect was found to be Chinese.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]