Tokyo: Japan has described as “regrettable” US President Joe Biden’s remark that “xenophobia” is stifling the Asian nation’s financial progress, the highest authorities spokesperson mentioned on Tuesday.
Final week Biden mentioned “xenophobia” in economies from China to Japan and India was hobbling their progress, whereas arguing at a Washington fund-raising occasion that migration has been good for the U.S. economic system.
“We lodged representations to america that the remark was not primarily based on the proper understanding of Japan’s coverage and regrettable,” Chief Cupboard Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi advised a daily information convention, with out elaborating.
Hayashi was fast so as to add, nonetheless, that Japan’s ties with its safety ally america had been extra strong than ever, and Tokyo will attempt to make them even stronger.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Washington in April for a summit with Biden and unveiled plans for army co-operation and tasks from missiles to moon landings, in order to strengthen ties with an eye fixed to countering China and Russia.
Ultimately week’s occasion to lift funds for his 2024 re-election marketing campaign, Biden mentioned, “One of many explanation why our economic system’s rising is due to you and plenty of others. Why? As a result of we welcome immigrants.”
“Why is China stalling so badly economically, why is Japan having bother, why is Russia, why is India, as a result of they’re xenophobic. They do not need immigrants. Immigrants are what makes us robust.”
Japan, which prides itself on its homogeneity, has lengthy been reticent about immigration, though its falling start charge and a quickly ageing inhabitants level to an acute labour scarcity within the coming many years.
Requested in a Newsweek interview if he wished to spur immigration to reverse the inhabitants decline, Kishida mentioned Japan should take into account inviting expert staff, however dominated out a full-fledged immigration programme.
“For extremely succesful and motivated staff to be invited into Japan to offer help to Japanese society is what we want to allow,” Kishida mentioned within the interview, revealed final week.
“There are nonetheless some in Japanese society who’re proof against the concept of steady, indefinite immigration of labour from abroad.”
Printed 07 Could 2024, 09:26 IST