Beijing, 26 January 2026 – China has issued a fresh travel advisory urging its citizens to avoid travel to Japan just weeks before the Lunar New Year holiday, as a simmering diplomatic dispute over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan continues to strain bilateral ties.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing and the Chinese embassy in Tokyo jointly issued the warning on Monday, telling Chinese citizens to reconsider travel plans and urging those already in Japan to remain vigilant and “alert to crime and disaster warnings,” citing rising incidents affecting Chinese nationals and recent earthquakes as reasons.
Tensions Rooted in Taiwan Dispute
The advisory is part of an ongoing diplomatic row triggered by comments made by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in late 2025 suggesting that a Chinese military attack on Taiwan could be considered a “survival-threatening situation” that might justify Japanese military involvement. Beijing interprets this as interference in its domestic affairs and a challenge to its One China policy, which asserts that Taiwan is part of China.
The dispute has at times spilled into economic and people-to-people exchanges. In late 2025, China’s advisory led to sharp declines in Chinese tourists visiting Japan, with arrivals down as much as 45 per cent, even as Japan recorded record overall tourism numbers driven by other markets.
China’s travel warning comes at a sensitive moment as the Lunar New Year period, traditionally one of the busiest travel seasons, approaches, heightening the economic impact on Japan’s tourism sector which had relied heavily on visitors from mainland China prior to the dispute.
Broader Diplomatic Fallout
The advisories are among several retaliatory measures Beijing has taken since the tensions began. Previous actions have included suspension of cultural exhibitions, cancellation of film releases and events, and temporary halt of ferry services linking China and Japan, all part of what analysts describe as a broader deterioration in relations.
While Japan continues to insist that its official position on Taiwan has not changed from long-standing diplomatic norms established in earlier communiqués, Beijing’s increasingly assertive responses reflect deeper geopolitical sensitivities around security, regional influence and sovereignty issues in East Asia.
The travel warning is also likely to reverberate through regional tourism patterns, with some Chinese travellers opting for Southeast Asian destinations as alternatives amid the diplomatic uncertainty.
