Latest detention in China source of major concern for Japan expats
Japanese nationals working for China-based companies are stepping on eggshells for fear of attracting the attention of Chinese security officials.
But it‘S not because they’re doing anything illegal, as far as anyone knows.
It just so happens that the Japanese community has faltered following the recent jailing of a Japanese national in China – in this case a veteran Chinese man in Beijing – particularly after mentions in some quarters that he could be charged with espionage.
The employee, in his fifties, works for Astellas Pharma Inc., a large pharmaceutical company. He has been working in China for around 20 years and during this time has not only held a high-ranking position in the local branch, but also in the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China.
“At a time when caution towards China is already increasing, this is an unthinkable act for a law-governing nation against a Japanese businessman who understands China and has made various efforts to deepen bilateral exchanges through business,” one said former executive with a Japanese company.
“He never gave the impression of doing anything that dangerous,” said another Japanese economy official.
Despite the prevailing impression that the man was doing his job to the best of his ability, others made comments that suggested he may have offended his Chinese hosts on occasion.
He’s not afraid to speak his mind, one person recalled.
Another former executive noted that the man’s main job is gathering intelligence from Chinese government circles and he may have somehow overstepped his bounds.
Other employees working for Japanese companies in China have expressed concern that they may be next, especially since China almost never offers a clear explanation for someone’s detention, as in the recent case or the 16 other Japanese who have been imprisoned in recent years.
Ke Long, a senior fellow at the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research, noted that Japanese pharmaceutical companies operating in China do not sell directly to consumers but are wholesalers to state-owned companies.
“There are many opportunities to interact with government officials in the course of the job,” Ke said.
He noted that Chinese officials are now particularly sensitive to issues surrounding the novel coronavirus pandemic amid reports in the West that COVID-19 has almost certainly leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, Hubei province. New drugs are another issue given the domestic upheaval brought about by prolonged periods of strict infection control measures.
“Even idle gossip could be perceived as an attempt to obtain information or espionage,” Ke said. “Pharmaceutical company employees must be very careful with their words and actions when speaking to Chinese government officials or state-owned companies.”
In the past, when Japan-China diplomatic relations deteriorated, it often resulted in the imprisonment of Japanese employees in China.
But more recently, lower-level security officials seem to be heeding concerns expressed by senior officials about foreign influence influencing internal affairs. In such cases, the possible diplomatic consequences of imprisoning foreigners tend to fall by the wayside.
Chinese officials have expressed hopes for greater foreign investment to deal with the negative impact of the global COVID-19 health crisis on their economy.
But as a source at the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China put it, “Inevitably, more companies and employees will hesitate to act aggressively.”
A diplomatic source noted that Chinese officials are yet to provide a clear explanation for the recent detention: “There is growing dismay among Japanese nationals (in China). This is an incident that could have serious repercussions on the business relationship that forms the basis of bilateral relations and on travel between the two nations.”
(This article was written by Akihiro Nishiyama and Masayuki Takada in Beijing and Kohei Kondo and Yuki Kubota in Tokyo.)