TOKYO: Japan weighed in yesterday on the stand-off between government and pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, calling for the city’s “free and open” system not to be undermined.
“Japan strongly hopes that Hong Kong’s free and open system will be kept under the principle of ‘one nation, two systems’ so that the close relationship between Japan and Hong Kong will be maintained,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said. “Japan has very close economic ties with Hong Kong, and its future is of great interest to Japan,” the top government spokesman said.
“Hong Kong’s prosperity plays an important role in the prosperity and stability of not only China but the whole Asia-Pacific region, including Japan,” Suga said.
When asked again about the situation later yesterday, Suga said Tokyo was “watching how the situation develops.”
“It is best that Hong Kong resolve Hong Kong’s problem democratically,” he said, without elaborating.
More than 1,200 Japanese companies have outposts in Hong Kong, according to Japan’s foreign ministry. Japan is Hong Kong’s third-largest trading partner following mainland China and the United States, while the former British colony is the largest export destination for Japanese agricultural produce. There is also a thriving two-way tourism relationship. AFP
