Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on surface of the photo, that is collected

TOKYO, Dec 17, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said 
on Wednesday she is "always open" to dialogue with China despite a diplomatic 
row between Tokyo and Beijing over comments she made about Taiwan.

"China is an important neighbour for Japan, and we need to build constructive 
and stable relationships," Takaichi told a news conference.

"Japan is always open to dialogue with China. We're not shutting our door."

China and Japan are enmeshed in a spat over Takaichi's suggestion in November 
that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on Taiwan.

Beijing claims the self-ruled democratic island as part of its territory and 
has threatened to use force to bring it under its control.

The comments triggered a sharp diplomatic backlash from China, which has 
urged its citizens to avoid travelling to Japan.

Official data released on Wednesday showed the warning has had an impact on 
visitor numbers.

Arrivals from mainland China to Japan last month edged up just three percent 
from a year earlier, the weakest growth since January 2022, according to the 
Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO).

Around 560,000 travellers from China visited Japan last month, representing a 
three percent year-on-year increase, the JNTO said, citing the travel warning 
as a factor in the modest hike.

The year-on-year growth of Chinese visitors to Japan had steadily hovered in 
the double digits for months -- 22.8 percent in October, 18.9 percent in 
September and 36.5 percent in August.

- Big spenders -

Despite the cancellation of many group tours from China, "the decline of 
Chinese guests is offset by visitors from other countries," Takayuki 
Kitanaka, spokesman for the Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau, told AFP.

"Many businesses are making efforts so that they would be ready to welcome 
back Chinese visitors once things calm down," he said.

China is the biggest source of tourists to the Japanese archipelago, with 
almost 7.5 million visitors in the first nine months of 2025 -- a quarter of 
all foreign tourists, according to official figures.

Attracted by a weak yen, they splashed out the equivalent of $3.7 billion in 
the third quarter.

Each Chinese tourist spent on average 22 percent more than other visitors 
last year, according to the JNTO.

A recent survey by major research firm Teikoku Databank found that while 43 
percent of companies saw the trend as bad for the Japanese economy, 41 
percent did not expect any impact.

"These results suggest that many companies are taking the current travel 
restrictions relatively calmly," Teikoku Databank said.

In the latest escalation of the row this month, Chinese military aircraft 
locked radar onto Japanese jets, prompting Tokyo to summon Beijing's 
ambassador.