Two Arrested at Liaoning Electric Motor Plant; Japanese Media: Japanese Firms May Suspend Business Trips to China

(CNA Taipei, 25th) Two Japanese employees of a major Japanese electric motor manufacturer in Dalian, Liaoning Province, China, were arrested in May on suspicion of attempting to smuggle rare earths out of the country. This incident has raised concerns within the Japanese business community. Japanese media reports indicate that following the exposure of this incident, some Japanese companies are considering suspending business trips to China for their employees.

According to Kyodo News, in recent years, there have been successive detentions or arrests of Japanese nationals in China. Each incident exacerbates the unease among Japanese companies, leading to an increasing number of Japanese firms avoiding sending employees and their families to China, resulting in a continuous decrease in the number of Japanese residents in China.

A senior executive of a Japanese company with a branch in Dalian expressed a sense of crisis regarding the detention of the two Japanese employees, stating, "We have to consider countermeasures such as reducing business trips to China."

Another male employee of a Japanese company involved in the semiconductor business said that more and more dispatched employees from Japanese firms are feeling uneasy about working in China.

An employee of a large Japanese manufacturer in the area appealed to the Japanese government to publicly disclose relevant information to the extent possible, including what specific actions are considered "problematic" by the Chinese authorities.

Sources within the Japanese government stated that following the detention of the two Japanese nationals, Sino-Japanese relations are likely to further deteriorate, and they are concerned about the negative impact this will have on Japanese companies with branches in China.

The report mentioned that since the implementation of China's "Anti-Espionage Law" in 2014, 17 Japanese nationals have been detained on charges such as "engaging in espionage activities." Among them, a male Japanese employee of AstraZeneca was detained in 2023 on suspicion of espionage and was sentenced to three years and six months in prison in July 2025. In 2019, a male Japanese employee of ITOCHU Corporation was also sentenced to three years in prison for "endangering national security."

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