Chinese youth invited to local govts in Japan as exchange staff
Twenty-four participants chosen through open recruitment will serve in local governments, keeping person-to-person exchanges alive amid friction.
- 24 Chinese youths have been selected to work in local governments across Japan as part of a Japanese government exchange program.
- The program is proceeding despite strained political relations, with Japanese officials hoping the exchange will help build a stable bilateral relationship.
- Reflecting the poor relations, this is the first year that no participants were recommended by Chinese local governments; all were chosen via open recruitment.
A send-off party for Chinese participants in the Japanese government's foreign youth invitation program was held at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing on Saturday (April 12).
Amid strained Japan-China relations, the 24 individuals selected through an open recruitment process will be dispatched to local governments across Japan as international exchange officers and in other roles.
At the party, Yo Sonoda, a minister at the embassy, said to the departing Chinese youth, "Japan-China relations are going through a difficult period, but with an eye toward the spring that will surely come, I hope you will work together with us to build a stable bilateral relationship."
Speaking on behalf of the program participants, Li Zhuofan, who will be assigned to Sapporo, the capital of the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, expressed determination to contribute to Japan-China exchanges.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's administration reacted sharply against Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's parliamentary remarks in November last year on a possible Taiwan contingency, suspending dialogue and exchanges with the Japanese side.
Meanwhile, Zhang Youyou, who will be dispatched to Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan, spoke of encouragement from family members who said friendships begin through person-to-person exchanges.
The program in China began in fiscal 1992, with the cumulative number of participants exceeding 1,500, including 36 people who were dispatched in fiscal 2025. Conventionally, about half of the participants were recommended by local governments in China having friendly ties with Japanese municipalities. This year, however, there were no such recommendations for the first time, possibly reflecting the deterioration of bilateral relations.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
