Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

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Japan China

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1763359452002cropped-photo-collage.png (2).png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Photos from Unsplash</span></span></span></div><p>TOKYO, Japan — Japanese tourism and retail shares dived on Monday after China warned its citizens to avoid the tourist hotspot in a spat over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi&#x27;s comments on Taiwan.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/11/15/china-tells-citizens-to-avoid-japan-travel-after-pm-s-taiwan-remarks-1009">China tells citizens to avoid Japan travel after PM&#x27;s Taiwan remarks</a></div><p>Takaichi, seen as a China hawk, suggested this month that close US ally Japan could intervene militarily in any attack on the self-ruled island, which Beijing claims.</p><p>Asia&#x27;s two top economies are closely entwined, with China the biggest source of tourists going to Japan—almost 7.5 million in the first nine months of 2025.</p><p>Drawn by a weak yen making shopping cheaper, they splashed out 590 billion yen ($3.8 billion) in the third quarter -- 28 percent of all spending by foreign tourists, transport ministry data shows.</p><p>Japan was also the fourth-most popular destination for Chinese tourists last year, helping the land of Mount Fuji, sushi and geishas set new records for foreign arrivals.</p><p>Investors wiped as much as 11.4 percent off Japanese cosmetics firm Shiseido&#x27;s shares on Monday.</p><p>Department store group Takashimaya fell six percent and Pan Pacific, behind discount retail chain and tourist magnet Don Quijote, slid as much as 8.4 percent.</p><p>Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing -- which has a major presence in China -- fell by close to six percent.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Xi talks</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Before taking power last month, Takaichi, an acolyte of ex-premier Shinzo Abe, was a vocal critic of China and its military build-up in the Asia-Pacific.</p><p>If a Taiwan emergency entails &quot;battleships and the use of force, then that could constitute a situation threatening the survival (of Japan), any way you slice it,&quot; Takaichi, 64, told parliament on November 7.</p><p>Under Japan&#x27;s self-imposed rules, an existential threat is one of the few cases where it can act militarily. Taiwan sits around 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the nearest Japanese island.</p><p>The comments came just days after Takaichi met Chinese President Xi Jinping for an apparently cordial first meeting on the sidelines of an APEC summit.</p><p>Takaichi, who has visited Taiwan and called for closer security cooperation, also met separately with Taipei&#x27;s representative at the summit.</p><p>Her recent comments have sparked a furore, with a Chinese diplomat stationed in Japan threatening to &quot;cut off that dirty neck&quot;, apparently referring to Takaichi.</p><p>China and Japan last week summoned each other&#x27;s ambassadors, with Beijing then advising its citizens to avoid travelling to Japan and warning Chinese students in Japan there were risks to their safety.</p><p>Over 100,000 Chinese students were enrolled in educational institutions in Japan last year, according to the Japanese government.</p><p>Japan&#x27;s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told reporters on Monday that the announcement was &quot;incompatible with the broader direction agreed upon by the leaders of the two nations&quot;.</p><p>On Sunday, Chinese coast guard vessels spent several hours in Japan&#x27;s territorial waters around the disputed Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyu in China, Kihara said.</p><p>Beijing insists Taiwan, which Japan occupied for decades until 1945, is part of its territory.</p><p>Japanese media reports said that the top official in the foreign ministry for Asia-Pacific affairs headed to China on Monday.</p><p>Masaaki Kanai was due to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Liu Jinsong, the reports said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Economic hit</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>The diplomatic spat could spell further bad news for Japan&#x27;s economy, which shrank by 0.4 percent in the third quarter, official data showed on Monday.</p><p>Marcel Thieliant at Capital Economics warned that the tensions risked escalating &quot;into a full-blown trade spat&quot; similar to a previous episode in the early 2010s.</p><p>This could include China restricting exports of rare earths or imposing restrictions on Japanese exports.</p><p>&quot;Carmakers look particularly vulnerable as they are already under enormous pressure from the ascent of Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers,&quot; Thieliant added.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>Asia's two top economies are closely entwined, with China the biggest source of tourists going to Japan—almost 7.5 million in the first nine months of 2025.</p>

Asia's two top economies are closely entwined, with China the biggest source of tourists going to Japan—almost 7.5 million in the first nine months of 2025.

Japan-China spat over Taiwan comments sinks tourism stocks

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Japan-China spat over Taiwan comments sinks tourism stocks

Hiroshi Hiyama and Simon Sturdee,

Agence France-Presse

Published November 17, 2025 02:04 PM PHT

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Tokyo

Japan

china

taiwan

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diplomacy

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Agence France-Presse

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