Arab News Tokyo

The Japanese government expressed misgivings on Thursday after China approved national security legislation, giving it the power to stamp out terrorism and other subversive activities in Hong Kong, which has led to protests in the city this week.

“Japan is seriously concerned about the decision made by China’s National People’s Congress regarding policies toward Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the midst of strong concerns expressed from the international community and the people of Hong Kong,” said Japanese Press Secretary Masato Ohtaka in a statement.

Once finalized, the legislation is predicted to allow Beijing to tighten its control over semiautonomous Hong Kong, such as by banning activist groups. While the final scope of the legislation is not yet certain, it has led to concerns from various countries about infringing on Hong Kong and China’s "One Country, Two Systems" policy.

“It is the long-standing policy of Japan to attach great importance to upholding a free and open system which Hong Kong has been enjoying and the democratic and stable development of Hong Kong under the ‘One Country Two System’ framework,” said the Japanese statement.

It called Hong Kong an extremely important partner with which Japan has close economic ties and people-to-people exchanges, and added that Japan has expressed its concerns to China and will continue to carefully observe developments.

“Japan will cooperate with other countries and address the situation in an appropriate manner,” it said