The House of Representatives on Tuesday adopted a resolution on the “serious human rights situation” in China, calling on Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration to take steps to relieve the situation as the Beijing Winter Olympics get set to kick off.
Japan has already announced it will not send a government delegation to the Games, following a U.S.-led diplomatic boycott over concerns about China’s human rights record, although Tokyo avoided explicitly labeling its move as such.
Since taking office in October, Kishida has said on multiple occasions that Japan would not mince words with China when necessary, and in November he appointed former Defense Minister Gen Nakatani as an aide on human rights.
The resolution, adopted by the Lower House — it will be sent to the Upper House later — said the international community has expressed concerns over such issues as internment and the violation of religious freedom in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Tibet and Hong Kong.
The resolution did not, however, directly use the word “China” anywhere in the text, and steered clear of such expression as “human rights violation,” saying, instead, “human rights situation,” in a possible nod to close bilateral economic ties.
Japan relies on China not only as a manufacturing hub, but also as a market for items from automobiles to construction equipment.
“Human rights issues cannot just be domestic issues, because human rights hold universal values and are a rightful matter of concern for the international community,” the resolution said.
“This chamber recognizes changes to the status quo with force, which are symbolized by the serious human rights situation, as a threat to the international community,” it said.
U.S. President Joe Biden in December signed into law legislation that bans imports from China’s Xinjiang region over concerns about forced labor. Washington has labeled Beijing’s treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority genocide.
China denies abuses in Xinjiang, a major cotton producer that also supplies much of the world’s materials for solar panels.
The conservative wing of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party sought the adoption of the resolution ahead of the Feb. 4 opening of the Beijing Games. The House of Councilors is expected to adopt a similar resolution after the Olympics, according to a senior LDP member.
There have long been competing views within the LDP about the approach to China. The party’s more conservative wing is hawkish on China policy and seen as concerned primarily with defense issues. Other members of the party have pushed to preserve Japan’s deep economic ties with its neighbor.
The LDP initially considered using the phrase “denounce human rights abuses” in the resolution, but it was watered down in response to a request from its coalition ally Komeito, which conventionally places a high level of importance on Japan-China relations.
The parliamentary resolution called on the Japanese government to work with the international community in addressing the issue.
“The government should collect information to grasp the whole picture … monitor the serious human right situation in cooperation with the international community and implement comprehensive relieving measures,” it said.