Yomiuri Reporters Win Award for Analysis of China Military; Praised for Contributing to Important Policy Decisions

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:37 JST, June 24, 2025

A group of Yomiuri Shimbun reporters covering security issues has been chosen for the top journalism award bestowed by the International House of Japan, it was announced on Monday.

Led by Hirotaka Kuriyama of The Yomiuri Shimbun’s Political News Department, the Yomiuri staff writers reported on security issues including the activities of the Chinese military around Japan and a Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer sailing through the Taiwan Strait.

This year marked the second round of journalism awards for excellent reporting, columns and journalistic activities given out by the International House of Japan, which is a public interest incorporated foundation.

Kaori Hayashi, executive vice president of the University of Tokyo, serves as the head of the selection committee for the awards. The Yomiuri’s series of stories “accurately reported the tensions in the international situation and contributed to policy decisions that could influence Japan’s future,” Hayashi said.

The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the Chinese military has the capability to land its ground forces in Taiwan within as little as one week at the earliest, according to a Japanese government analysis of Chinese military exercises conducted around the summer of 2023. It also sounded the alarm about the Chinese military simulating a very short military operation that would exploit the period before the U.S. military and other forces could respond to an invasion of Taiwan.

In addition, The Yomiuri Shimbun immediately reported that the MSDF Sazanami destroyer had sailed through the Taiwan Strait for the first time since the Self-Defense Forces were formed, as a measure against the activities of the Chinese military, such as its military aircraft entering Japanese airspace.

It also visualized the activities of the Chinese military, reporting them based on data from satellite images.