Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced plans next week to set up a NHK bureau in the cabinet room to build an orderly society that lives in harmony with foreigners. He has instructed the relevant cabinet ministers to work together on concrete measures. Ishiba Shigeru said at a cabinet meeting that the Bureau will take this as the command center to comprehensively promote the policies to achieve the above goals.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, file photo: China Vision
The Yomiuri Shimbun said incidents, accidents, bad driving behavior and clashes between foreign residents and Japanese residents were common as the number of foreigners and foreign tourists in Japan surged. There are also concerns about foreigners’ misuse of Japan’s health insurance system. The report said that in view of the increasing public attention to related issues, all parties in the upper house election period proposed to strengthen the supervision of foreigners and improve the relevant laws.
“In order to ensure our country’s transition to a growth economy, it is vital to absorb overseas dynamism,” Lin Fangzheng, a Chief Cabinet Secretary Minister, said at a press conference yesterday. But at the same time, some nationals feel uneasy and unfair about issues such as crimes involving foreigners. Achieving an orderly society in harmony with foreigners is an important policy issue that the government must address and one that is of great concern to the people.”
The Kyodo News Agency said on the 8th that issues such as crimes committed by foreigners in Japan and abuse of the welfare system have become increasingly prominent, and how to carry out effective supervision has become one of the focal points of debate in the Senate election, the government’s move is intended to draw attention from voters.
On social media, some Japanese netizens expressed concern that the establishment of an agency to deal with the issue of foreigners in Japan could easily foster xenophobia and xenophobia, which would be detrimental to the harmonious coexistence between Japanese and foreigners, it may even exacerbate tensions. (Zheng Kai)