China Urges Citizens to Avoid Travel to Japan After Japanese PM’s Taiwan Remarks

Nov. 15 — China on Friday advised its citizens to refrain from traveling to Japan after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Japan might militarily intervene if a conflict erupted in the Taiwan Strait.

Advisory, airline responses and regional reaction

Beijing’s notice stopped short of a formal travel ban but was described by CNN as the most serious official rebuke to date over the prime minister’s comments. Hong Kong’s Security Bureau issued a similar notice for residents on Saturday. In response, seven Chinese airlines told passengers booked to fly to Japan that they could receive refunds or change routes through the end of the year.

What Takaichi said and the fallout

Takaichi told lawmakers last week that if China were to take military action against Taiwan, Japan could regard such action as creating a self-defense situation that might warrant a military response. Chinese officials demanded she retract the remarks. According to NBC News, one Chinese official called her an "evil witch," while another used a derogatory phrase about cutting off a "dirty neck" that meddled in China’s affairs. China Daily reported that Takaichi has so far declined to retract her comments.

Context and domestic criticism

China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has repeatedly indicated it could use force to enforce that claim if necessary; Taiwan is a self-governing island that became the refuge for Chinese nationalists after the communists took control of the mainland in 1949. Within Japan, former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba criticized Takaichi’s remarks, saying they were "very close to claiming that a Taiwan contingency is a Japan contingency," and noting that other leaders typically avoid outlining specific military responses to hypothetical Taiwan scenarios.

Sources: CNN, NBC News, China Daily.