Air travel between China and Japan showed little sign of recovering in August, with 18 routes between the two countries operating no flights for the entire month as political tensions continued to weigh on cross-border travel.
Chinese airlines canceled 1,120 flights to Japan in August, according to the latest data cited by Chinese news outlet iFeng on Sept. 1. Combined with 1,195 cancellations in July, the two-month total reached 2,315 flights.
The August cancellation rate for flights from China to Japan was 30.1 percent, marking the second consecutive month in which the rate exceeded 30 percent. The number of routes on which all scheduled flights were canceled rose from 12 to 18.
The disruptions underscore that the deterioration in China–Japan relations is continuing to affect one of the most visible forms of people-to-people exchange between the two countries.
August flights also fell during the second half of China’s summer travel season, traditionally a busy period for international tourism.
Several individuals in China spoke to The Epoch Times regarding the situation on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.
“The fact that 18 routes were wiped out shows that the China–Japan aviation market did not recover along with the tourism peak season, and the losses to both aviation and tourism are considerable,” a tourism industry insider told the publication.
Shift Away From Japan
An employee surnamed Wang at Chinese travel agency Ctrip told The Epoch Times that demand for travel to Japan had recently declined in China, while travel to destinations such as South Korea and Vietnam had increased, particularly during summer vacation.
“Now the government does not encourage residents to go to Japan. Many people don’t dare to go, fearing that they won’t be able to leave the country,” Wang said. “What if you go to Japan and are questioned at customs, and they tell you that Japan is unsafe?”
His comments point to a broader concern among some Chinese travelers that traveling to Japan could attract scrutiny from regime authorities, amid increasingly strained relations between Beijing and Tokyo.
The latest reduction in air capacity follows a sharp deterioration in bilateral relations that began affecting China–Japan air travel in late 2025.
In November 2025, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi discussed a potential Taiwan Strait conflict and said that if such a conflict threatened Japan’s survival, Japan could legally exercise its right to collective self-defense.
Beijing subsequently advised Chinese citizens to avoid traveling to Japan. Several Chinese airlines introduced free cancellation and change policies for Japan-bound tickets.
In January, Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines extended those free cancellation and change arrangements for Japan routes through Oct. 24. The extensions indicated that the diplomatic dispute between Beijing and Tokyo had not eased.
The tensions escalated further in August after the Japanese government released its 2026 defense white paper on Aug. 5. The document identified China as Japan’s greatest strategic challenge and said Chinese military activity around Japan had increased.
China’s Foreign Ministry responded the same day by accusing Tokyo of using China as an excuse to expand its military capabilities.
A Beijing-based diplomatic insider told The Epoch Times that there is little prospect of a substantial improvement in China–Japan relations in the near term. He said the relationship could continue along this year’s pattern of confrontation into next year.
Beijing’s Use of Travel as Pressure
A Chinese academic told The Epoch Times that Beijing has long used tourism, flights, and economic exchanges as tools of diplomatic pressure.
“Although the regime has not stated a specific directive, anyone can see the real intention—they want Japan to lose revenue from Chinese tourists and want Japanese society to pressure its government,” the academic said. “But this is wishful thinking. We have seen that Japan’s tourism industry has not suffered an economic impact because China is preventing its citizens from traveling to Japan.”
Japan received 3.44 million foreign visitors in July, a record for the month, with visitor numbers from South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong all increasing.
The figures suggest that while restrictions or reluctance among Chinese travelers can sharply reduce China–Japan air traffic, Japan’s broader tourism market has other sources of international demand.
Ye Zilong and Reuters contributed to this report.
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