Photo/Illutration Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, left, meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing in late December. (Pool)

Conservative members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party are incensed over what they consider an excessive effort by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to improve ties with China.

What has rankled those members in recent days is the relaxation of conditions for granting tourist visas to Chinese visitors.

When Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya visited Beijing in late December, he said a new tourist visa would be established for wealthy Chinese that would allow them to make any number of visits to Japan over a 10-year period, with each visit limited to 90 days.

Not only did conservative LDP elements criticize that move, but social media posts also raised concerns about a flood of Chinese tourists as well as a worsening of law and order.

At his Jan. 24 news conference, Iwaya said there was likely a misunderstanding about the new measure and added, “It will not lead to a sudden and disorderly increase in Chinese tourists.”

That remark triggered even further objections by LDP lawmakers.

After a joint session of the LDP’s Foreign Affairs Division and the Research Commission on Foreign Affairs held Jan. 28, Tsuyoshi Hoshino, the division director, said, “There is absolutely no misunderstanding. There is the view that to relax conditions at this time is hasty and lacking in balance.”

Upper House member Masahisa Sato posted to his account on X, formerly Twitter, about the many critical comments made in the meeting regarding Iwaya’s recent statements at his news conference.

“The atmosphere (in the party organs) is not conducive to assessing bills or treaties,” Sato wrote.

LDP members were also fuming because Foreign Ministry officials never briefed them on the proposed visa changes.

Iwaya threw gas onto the fire by stating that there has never been a case in the past of requiring prior approval from the party.

That led Hoshino to state that there was no discussion this time, even though the government has often come to the party in the past asking for approval of treaties, bills and the budget.

The objections raised by conservative members arose because of the efforts of the Ishiba administration to improve ties with Beijing.

For its part, China has been reaching out to Japan because it wants a stable relationship knowing that the United States under President Donald Trump will ratchet up its confrontational stance toward it.

One conservative LDP member said, “The Ishiba administration is being too rash in improving ties with China. It should have relaxed the visa conditions after solidifying the relationship with the United States.”

Among the other rules eased is one related to a tourist visa allowing numerous entries over a three-year period.

In the past, one requirement was that the Chinese applicant had to have visited Japan twice in a three-year period. The new requirement is two visits over a five-year period, excluding the time when all visitors were banned due to COVID-19.

Iwaya has raised the ire of conservative LDP lawmakers because of a comment he made last year shortly after becoming foreign minister. He said Japanese diplomacy could not be conducted if comments were made that were hateful toward China and South Korea.

But trying to tamp down the latest criticism, Iwaya has said he would offer detailed explanations in the future since he is aware various opinions and points are being raised.