Key Facts
• December 26: Kaori Arimoto, Secretary-General of the Japanese Conservative Party, responded to Katsuya Okada’s protest.
• December 21: Arimoto claimed on NHK that the Sino-Japanese Parliamentary Alliance was reported by the U.S. Department of Defense as a Chinese influence tool.
• December 25: Okada denied the existence of such a report and demanded evidence.
• Arimoto cited U.S. Department of Defense and Jamestown Foundation reports from 2019 as evidence.
• Reports highlighted China’s global influence operations but did not explicitly mention Japan.
• Arimoto published Okada’s letter demanding clarification and evidence within three days.
• Arimoto criticized Okada’s NHK statement on “controlling public sentiment” as undemocratic.
• Arimoto called for a public debate with Okada to address the issue.
Summary
Kaori Arimoto, Secretary-General of the Japanese Conservative Party, has countered Katsuya Okada, a former foreign minister from the Constitutional Democratic Party, over remarks regarding the Sino-Japanese Parliamentary Alliance. Arimoto claimed on NHK that the alliance was identified by the U.S. Department of Defense as a Chinese influence mechanism. Okada denied the claim, demanding evidence. Arimoto presented reports from the U.S. Department of Defense and the Jamestown Foundation, which discuss China’s global influence operations but do not explicitly mention Japan. She also criticized Okada’s statement on “controlling public sentiment” as undemocratic and called for a public debate to resolve the matter.
