Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi is facing backlash back home after it was reported that her grandson has enrolled in an undergraduate programme at a top Chinese university amid the ongoing diplomatic spat between Tokyo and Beijing.
Ren Yamamoto, the prime minister’s 19-year-old step-grandson, had enrolled in a four-year programme at the university starting in April this year, according to news reports.
Mr Yamamoto is the son of Ms Takaichi’s step-son, Ken Yamamoto.
Ms Takaichi, who has taken a strong pro-Taiwan stance since her election to office, reportedly learned about her grandson’s enrolment on the eve of his departure for China, NEWS Post Seven reported. The prime minister was quite displeased upon learning the developments, but could not interfere with the decision, it reported.
The move has drawn criticism amid Japan’s already strained relations with China, which deteriorated to their lowest level in decades after Ms Takaichi’s pro-Taiwan comments last November. Chinese state media also accused her of hypocrisy after Japanese media revealed the news of her step-grandson.
“But why would she send him there in the first place? Should have sent him to Taiwan,” read a comment on X.
Another user on X wrote: “Anti-China on stage, China on the family transcript.
However, others countered the argument, saying: “So what? Many Chinese officials children live in the West and attend top universities.”
The Japanese prime minister suggested last November that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo. Beijing considers Taiwan to be a part of its sovereignty and hasn’t ruled out the use of force to bring the self-governed island under its fold.
In response, Beijing instituted export and travel restrictions and repeatedly demanded a retraction. It reinstated a ban on Japanese seafood imports and export restrictions on “dual-use” technologies as well.
Beijing has since accused Japan of seeking to remilitarise, citing Ms Takaichi’s stance on Taiwan and Tokyo’s increased defence budget.
Japan has also downgraded its description of ties with China from “one of the most important” in an annual diplomatic report to “strategic” and “mutually beneficial”, while Beijing has cut Tokyo off from the export of several heavy rare earths since the beginning of the spat.
Since December, Chinese exports of rare earth minerals such as dysprosium, terbium and yttrium oxide, as well as speciality metal gallium, to Japan have stopped except for a few tiny shipments of yttrium, Chinese customs data show.
Beijing publicly tightened export controls to Japan in January, and then twice again the following month, targeting major conglomerates including the shipbuilding and aero engine divisions of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
This prompted the US administration to press Beijing to restart rare earth shipments to Japan, amid fears that disruptions to Japanese manufacturing could have far-reaching consequences for global supply chains, Nikkei Asia reported.