U.S., Japan raise concerns over China buying land near military bases

The US and Japan have raised concerns over a Chinese company purchasing land near defence base areas. A Chinese company acquired a piece of land in Hokkaido near a Japanese Air Self-Defence Force radar site, and Fufeng Group purchased 300 acres of farmland near Grand Forks, North Dakota in the US. After the revelation, in January, Sanae Takaichi, who then was the policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said that a Chinese company acquired land in Hokkaido, roughly 35 km away from a Japanese Air Self-Defence Force radar site and asked if this was not a part of the national security issue, Nikkei Asia reported.
While addressing the Lower House Budget Committee session in Japan, Takaichi said, “Is this not a national security issue?” The ownership and investment in Japan’s forest region have witnessed a 4.7-fold increase from 2010 to the present, according to Japan’s Forestry Agency.
In 2021, buyers coming from Hong Kong, Macao, Australia, Singapore, and the US will buy land in Hokkaido. A total of 19 cases were recorded. Last month, Ryan Ashley and Alec Rice, active-duty officers in the US military, writing for Nikkei Asia, described Japan’s northernmost main island, Hokkaido, as “a historical hotbed of great power competition, poised to again demonstrate its critical importance in the Pacific.” China has long recognised Hokkaido as a prize jewel of the North Pacific island chain, has strengthened its economic influence in the area for decades, and is today increasing its military cooperation with Russia, “they wrote in Nikkei Asia.