In echo of Tiananmen Square, Tokyo takes different path than that of key allies
MASAYA KATO, Nikkei staff writer
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato expressed "grave concern" Tuesday about the situation in Xinjiang without mentioning independent sanctions by Tokyo. (Photo by Uichiro Kasai)
China is Japan's neighbor and largest trading partner, and tensions between the two have already been inflamed by Beijing's forays around the Senkaku Islands, which are administered by Tokyo and claimed by China as the Diaoyu. Japan wants to avoid steps that could invite even more military pressure, though it could face a push from Washington and Brussels to toe the line.
But even without these complicating factors, there is a more basic problem. Unlike Washington and Brussels, Tokyo lacks a legal framework that would easily allow for sanctions on human rights grounds, along the lines of the Global Magnitsky Act used by the U.S.
"There are no rules under which we can impose sanctions that are directly and explicitly connected to human rights issues," Kato said.
Japan can employ existing laws, such as the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act, for asset freezes and travel bans on foreign officials, but these have no provisions related to human rights.
Past steps by Tokyo, such as a 2011 freeze on personal assets of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, have mostly been based on United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Japan has also hesitatedChina is Japan's neighbor and largest trading partner, and tensions between the two have already been inflamed by Beijing's forays around the Senkaku Islands, which are administered by Tokyo and claimed by China as the Diaoyu. Japan wants to avoid steps that could invite even more military pressure, though it could face a push from Washington and Brussels to toe the line.
But even without these complicating factors, there is a more basic problem. Unlike Washington and Brussels, Tokyo lacks a legal framework that would easily allow for sanctions on human rights grounds, along the lines of the Global Magnitsky Act used by the U.S.
"There are no rules under which we can impose sanctions that are directly and explicitly connected to human rights issues," Kato said.
Japan can employ existing laws, such as the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act, for asset freezes and travel bans on foreign officials, but these have no provisions related to human rights.
Past steps by Tokyo, such as a 2011 freeze on personal assets of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, have mostly been based on United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Japan has also hesitatedTOKYO -- As Europe, the U.S. and other major Western economies hit China with a spate of sanctions over alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang, Japan has so far stood pat, because of both a lack of effective tools and concern about harming an already complicated relationship with Beijing.
When asked in a news conference Tuesday whether Japan would impose sanctions on its own, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato made no mention of doing so. He did express "grave concern" about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, where the Uyghur Muslim minority population has reportedly been subject to large-scale detentions and other abuses.
