Major Chinese universities halt exchange programmes to Japan amid diplomatic row
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Worsening Japan-China relations seem to have robbed young people of their potential to act as a bridge between the two countries.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: UNSPLASH
SHANGHAI/BEIJING – Several major Chinese universities have stopped sending exchange students to Japan following the Chinese government’s backlash against Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks about Taiwan in the Diet in November 2025, university officials and students have said.
Worsening Japan-China relations seem to have robbed young people of their potential to act as a bridge between the two countries.
On Nov 16, 2025 – nine days after Ms Takaichi made the comments – China’s Education Ministry advised its citizens to exercise caution when making plans to study in Japan, citing a deteriorating public security situation in the country.
Student exchange programmes implemented under agreements between Japanese and Chinese universities have been suspended.
“Each institution is following the government’s wishes and suspending the programmes,” a source from a university in Beijing said.
Schools that have halted the programmes include renowned universities in Beijing specialising in foreign language education and Shanghai’s prestigious Fudan University.
These restrictions do not seem to apply to students who will study at their own expense without going through a university. However, a professor in Beijing said: “There are also cases where students refrain from studying in Japan due to opposition from their parents.”
A Chinese man who has run a study abroad agency for 25 years said he only sent about five students to Japan in 2026, although in 2025 about 60 students were dispatched from his agency in time for the start of the new semester in April.
“We must not stop people-to-people exchanges or study abroad programmes even if there are political conflicts,” the man said.
Will it last long?
According to a source familiar with Japan-China relations, anti-Japanese demonstrations broke out across China when the Japanese government nationalised the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture in 2012, cooling the relationship. Beijing calls the islands Diaoyu.
Even then, there were no notable moves from Beijing to suspend study abroad programmes with Japan. With no prospect of improved Japan-China ties in sight this time, the suspension of student exchanges could become prolonged.
Chinese students hoping to study in Japan have been affected by these developments.
“This has become an unfortunate event that will affect the rest of my life,” a 23-year-old graduate student from Jiangsu Province said in a tearful voice in late April. Her exchange programme scheduled to begin in the spring of 2026 was cancelled.
Aspiring to become a judge, she had planned to study law for about five months at a graduate school in Tokyo. Her study abroad was confirmed in November 2025, but about a month later, her university informed her that the programme had been canceled due to “safety concerns”.
The woman said she pleaded with the university, offering to sign a pledge stating, “I accept full responsibility for any consequences”, but to no avail.
A 19-year-old college student in Shanghai said she had no choice but to give up on studying abroad this autumn.
A senior at her university, who had been scheduled to go on an exchange programme to Japan from April, told her that the programme was cancelled. The university reportedly explained that studying in Japan this autumn will be difficult as well, and urged its students to prepare themselves for the possibility that it will be cancelled.
“Studying abroad shouldn’t be affected by politics,” the student said. “This is a precious opportunity I earned through my hard work.” THE JAPAN NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
