Nagy added that there are 37,000 Japanese small and medium-size enterprises with a presence in China. Stephen Nagy, a professor of international relations at Tokyo's International Christian University, and formerly a frequent visitor to China, told DW that "the relationship between China and Japan will get more difficult as we go forward, especially in trade." Japanese companies were attracted to China in the past by the large workforce and relatively low wages, the easy availability of land for manufacturing plants and local companies that were keen customers or wanted to provide components or services. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Business and academic ties under pressure Nine were given prison terms after trials that took place behind closed doors. Since 2014, at least 17 Japanese nationals who have been arrested under China's espionage laws. "They can claim anything they like against you and something meaningless can be evidence against you."Īsked whether he would be willing to go to China for a work assignment at the moment, Kawaguchi is unequivocal, "No, definitely not." "I can understand why Japanese companies and their employees are afraid to go there," he said. "The trend is for the Chinese government to cocoon its people and to make it harder for them to have any sort of contact with foreigners," he told DW. "China has in recent years become more exclusionary towards outside influences and it is becoming more and more difficult to even get a visa," said Morinosuke Kawaguchi, a technology analyst and consultant who was previously a lecturer at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. The Tokyo-based Sankei newspaper conducted a survey in July on Japanese firms with operations in China, with over 53% of the 86 companies that replied expressing concern about the impact of the law on their business and staff in China. However, there is no definition of what falls under China's national security or interests, which makes it hard for people to determine if they've run afoul of regulation. The new regulations ban the transfer of any information that's deemed related to national security. The updated law also expands the definition of espionage by including cyber attacks against state organs or critical information infrastructure, state news agency Xinhua reported. The expansion was rubber stamped by China's parliament in June 2023, and took effect the following month. New legislation expands on China's Counter-Espionage Law, which was introduced in 2014. In March 2023, the Japan Times newspaper reported that a man working for Japanese Pharmaceutical company Astellas Pharma was arrested in China for violating espionage laws.Īnd these are only two of the most recent cases involving Japanese nationals getting caught up in China's national security apparatus. The man's identity and employer were not provided, and the Japanese government has not been informed of the charges the man faces. In late August, national broadcaster NHK quoted Japanese diplomats as confirming that a Japanese man in his 50s was indicted under the espionage law. Japanese companies are becoming increasingly wary about sending staff to their representative offices in China, as Japanese nationals continue to be taken into custody under Beijing's vague espionage laws.
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