Chinese investors are acquiring land around Japan’s military bases: Report

Following the security concerns, more than 700 Chinese-funded transactions of plots of land have been detected around military bases in Japan. Appledaily reported that Japanese investigative group Sankei Shimbun informed that the investments and purchase plans were driven by Chinese-led foreign corporations and could pose a risk to the country’s safety. The report said that the Japanese officials made the discovery after launching a comprehensive investigation last year into the property rights of land surrounding military installations. 

Sankei Shimbun said that the investigation arose from rumours in recent years that the Chinese capital was being used to buy sites within 10 kilometres of defence facilities and on Japanese islands at the periphery of the country. It added that the officials checked and confirmed that land acquisitions. They found that the affected sites were around the Japan Self-Defence Forces, the military base of the US Army Japan, Japan’s coast guard, and facilities for space development. 

The officials said that from the aforementioned site, one could get a panoramic sweep of the facilities and learn about the activities of the Japanese and American aircraft carriers, planes and personnel. Further, the media outlet said that one of the buyers, who purchased a plot closest to the US military base in Kanagawa prefecture, was suspected to be related to the Beijing government. It further informed that this buyer also owned a number of high-rise buildings nearby that could provide a bird's eye view of the base. 

Chinese zooming in on land near radar systems 

The investigative group also said that there were other transaction plans around the American base on Okinawa island and Japanese defence premises in Tottori prefecture, which Chinese investors were targeting. Moreover, they even learned that more acquisitions were in the works and the Chinese investors were zooming in on land near radar systems that surveyed the airspace and waters of Japan. It is worth mentioning that prior to the latest report, the investigative firm in 2017 had also said that Chinese capital had been used to buy land in Hokkaido equivalent to about 513 Tokyo Domes. 

Meanwhile, the Cabinet in Tokyo is due to review a bill controlling land use by foreign investors and might designate zones within 1 kilometre of key facilities as requiring special attention. The government might ask parties involved in land acquisitions to announce the future usage of the site before sealing the deal. Additionally, the Japanese government would also reserve the right to stop the transaction if the usage was deemed inappropriate. 

(Image: AP)