Japan’s Foreign Ministry Rebuts China’s Assertion of ‘Surge in Crime’ Against Chinese Nationals in Japan

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:38 JST, November 22, 2025

The Foreign Ministry has issued a press release on its website, rebutting announcements by the Chinese government that its people should refrain from visiting Japan on the grounds that there has been a surge in crime against Chinese nationals in the country.

“Such [an] assertion is incorrect,” the ministry said in its announcement on Friday night, citing trends in the number of recognized crimes against Chinese nationals in Japan. It is rare for the ministry to release crime statistics, which it has done in an apparent effort to counter China’s propaganda campaign.

Based on National Police Agency figures, the ministry said the number of Chinese nationals murdered stood at 15 in both 2023 and 2024. The figure for the period from January to October this year stood at seven, half the 14 cases recorded in the same period last year.

Regarding cases of robbery against Chinese nationals, there were 31 in 2023 and 27 in 2024. From January to October this year, there were 21, only slightly higher than in the same period last year.

As for relevant cases of arson, there were two in 2023 and three in 2024, but there have been no recognized cases in 2025, as of the end of October.

The data “also includes cases where the nationality of the main suspect was found to be Chinese,” the Foreign Ministry said in its post.

The ministry posted the announcement and the statistics on its website in both Japanese and English. The Japanese Embassy in Beijing also posted the announcement.

Beijing’s announcements urging its people to refrain from visiting Japan, or to reconsider studying in Japan, have been made in response to a remark by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at a Diet session that a Taiwan contingency could constitute a “survival-threatening” situation for Japan.