Analysis: Xi Jinping's generals face a treacherous political battlefield
Katsuji Nakazawa is a Tokyo-based senior staff and editorial writer at Nikkei. He spent seven years in China as a correspondent and later as China bureau chief. He was the 2014 recipient of the Vaughn-Ueda International Journalist prize.
It is now indisputable that Gen. He Weidong has been purged, three months after he disappeared from public view, sparking a torrent of speculation within and outside China.
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Japan Times
11 hours ago
- Japan Times
Cultural anxiety and Japan's immigration pains
Hello Kitty seems an unlikely trigger for an immigration debate. But that's what happened in Japan this week when Megumi Hayashibara, a prominent voice actress behind icons from Kitty to the long-running anime franchise "Evangelion's" Rei Ayanami, took to her blog to discuss the growing population of outsiders. She called for a crackdown on rule-breaking foreigners and criticized overseas students on free scholarships while locals pay for their education. The thrust of her post was a call for readers to vote. But her most cutting remark was a fear that local habits and Japaneseness itself might be lost if current trends continue, like the native crayfish endangered by an "invasive species' of crustacean threatening its natural habitat. (After online outrage, Hayashibara deleted the reference to crayfish.) While it's hardly the protests in Los Angeles, her comments show how immigration is becoming a heated topic in a country where it has only recently become a feature. And it's one that authorities should not ignore, as politicians elsewhere were content to do until fringe groups become seen as the only ones with the answers. I wrote in 2022 about how Tokyo, long stereotyped as being closed to immigration, was accepting more foreign nationals than many realized. That trend continues, with immigrants nearly doubling in the past decade and a record 10% jump in 2024. It's less the absolute level as the pace of change: Foreign residents have gone from less than 1% to more than 3% of the population in the past three decades and will reach around 10% in 2050. Criticism is fueled by the mistakes of Western nations and promoted by influencers who conflate Japan with other countries. Tokyo's strategy has been far subtler than many nations now struggling with anti-immigration populism, but it's no less vulnerable to the YouTube algorithm: A quick search for "Japan immigration issues' immediately turns up videos by the likes of the ubiquitous Hiroyuki Nishimura, the message-board entrepreneur with millions of followers and a controversial take on everything. These videos have titles like "Why should Japanese have to provide for foreigners?,' "Japan is defenseless' and "Japan will no longer be a country for Japanese!' What they ignore is that Japan doesn't have a vast force of idle foreign residents who are burdening the state. It accepts few asylum seekers, has been selective about the nationalities it attracts and has functioning border control. The number of illegal residents is a quarter of three decades ago, despite the increase in foreign nationals; the number of foreign-committed crimes shows a similar downtrend. Copy-pasted arguments from other countries don't apply here. But there are also areas of legitimate concern where authorities have not kept pace. From worries that short-term stayers are exploiting Japan's generous medical insurance system, to a bizarre loophole allowing tourists to easily get Japanese drivers' licenses, there's a worry that the country's hospitality is being exploited. The declining domestic population is complicating things. Working-age locals fell by 224,000 last year. This simultaneously lifts the need for foreigners to supplement the labor force, while heightening concerns about Japanese being "replaced' in their own country. The truth of Hayashibara's comments lies in the fact that the thing many love about Japanese society — the "it just works' nature of public life, from mass transit to health care to the low crime rate — is deeply dependent on everyone following the rules. Newcomers are often irked by all the procedures, from putting out garbage to talking on the subway. But these are necessary for residents, in particular those in cities stacked cheek-by-jowl, to coexist in harmony. Hayashibara's complaints about bad manners will be familiar to those who live in Japan, foreign or local; everyday annoyances have increased since the borders were reopened after COVID-19. In a Justice Ministry survey, nearly 78% said they most wanted foreign residents to follow local rules and customs. The government hasn't kept up with the times. Only now is Tokyo discussing simple issues, such as stopping tourists with unpaid medical debt from returning or rejecting visa extensions for those who haven't paid health care. I recently noted Japan doesn't track how easy it is for foreigners to buy property. A highly followed story since then concerns a Tokyo building where foreign ownership is seemingly seeking to force out residents to operate an illegal Airbnb. Politicians are reacting, slowly. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has pledged the country "will accept foreigners who follow the rules' while cautioning that those who don't "will be dealt with strictly.' Longtime ruling party leadership candidate Taro Kono has recently been burnishing his credentials by criticizing illegal immigration. It's all the growing pains of a changing nation. Talk of "invasive species' is unhelpful at best. But Japan also shouldn't repeat the mistakes of countries that dismissed citizens' concerns about immigration and ghettoization, only to watch them turn to fringe politicians when no one else would listen. The way to stave off the rise of populist talking heads is to address these worries and enforce a sense of fairness and equal treatment. After all, what else would Kitty want? Gearoid Reidy is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Japan and the Koreas.
Japan Times
11 hours ago
- Japan Times
Japan to move up auctions for imported rice
The Japanese government will move forward the first round of annual auctions for rice imported under a minimum market access agreement as part of efforts to stabilize rice prices, agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Thursday. This year's first auction for rice as staple food will take place on June 27 instead of the usual September, Koizumi told reporters, adding that delivery would be possible in September. Japan imports up to 100,000 tons of rice as staple food under the minimum access agreement, which is sold through several batches of auctions. The June auction is expected to cover 30,000 tons, with additional auctions scheduled monthly, ahead of the usual timeline. Higher rice prices have become a serious concern for consumers and policymakers ahead of key elections in Tokyo and the Upper House in the parliament. The government has been releasing rice from its emergency stockpile in an effort to stabilize prices, and consumers have been standing in long queues to buy it at less than half the average supermarket price. About 800,000 metric tons out of the 900,000-ton stockpile has already been earmarked for sale by August, and Koizumi had said the government would utilize imports if needed to keep supplying the grain to the market.
Japan Times
13 hours ago
- Japan Times
Japan and U.S. still far apart in tariff talks, Ishiba cited as saying
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba still sees distance with the U.S. when it comes to trade talks, according to an opposition party leader who met with the leader to discuss U.S. tariffs. Ishiba is expected to meet U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Group of Seven leaders gathering in Canada starting Sunday. Ahead of that potentially key meeting, the prime minister gathered with opposition party leaders Thursday to canvass their thoughts on the American levies. Speaking to reporters after the gathering, Nippon Ishin no Kai co-leader Seiji Maehara said that Ishiba said there is a large gap between the U.S. and Japanese stances, and that he doesn't have a particular timeline in mind for when the two sides may come to an agreement. "If there's progress before I meet the president, that's in and of itself good,' Ishiba told reporters in Tokyo on Thursday. "But what's important is to achieve an agreement that's beneficial to both Japan and the U.S. We won't compromise Japan's interests by prioritizing a quick deal.' The upcoming summit in Canada is viewed as a potential moment for Japan and the U.S. to reach some kind of an agreement after two months of back-and-forth. Failing to get any kind of deal there could worsen Ishiba's standing ahead of an Upper House election next month as the tariffs threaten to push Japan's economy into a technical recession. Maehara and Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the Democratic Party for the People, said that Ishiba also mentioned the U.S. and Japan are discussing Japan's U.S. Treasurys holdings, without elaborating on details. Tamaki told Ishiba that Japan could help U.S. yields stabilize by reinvesting in U.S. bonds — specifically by buying longer-term bonds when current holdings mature. Japan remains the biggest foreign holder of U.S. Treasurys. In early May, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato's remarks that suggested U.S. Treasurys could be used as a negotiating tool drew great market interest, but later Kato appeared to walk back those comments and in particular the idea that Japan might use the sale of U.S. Treasurys in negotiations. While Japanese party leaders continued to discuss the tariffs' impact, Trump appears to be ramping up pressure. The U.S. president said he intended to send letters to trading partners in the next one to two weeks setting unilateral tariff rates, ahead of a July 9 deadline to reimpose higher duties on dozens of economies. For Japan, an across-the-board tariff is set to increase to 24% from 10% on that day barring a deal. Tokyo is trying to earn a reprieve from a 25% tariff on cars and car parts and a 50% levy on steel and aluminum. Ishiba's top trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, is expected to travel to North America later this week for the sixth round of negotiations with his counterparts. Still, in a different debate with opposition party leaders held in parliament on Wednesday, Ishiba hinted at how quickly the situation could change. "The final decision is made by the president. There are many instances when the deal is sealed in that final moment,' Ishiba said when asked by the leader of the largest opposition party how far along trade talks were. "There is no doubt that talks are progressing.'
