Politics

China has stopped all flights on 49 routes to Japan as it renewed travel warnings. The Chinese foreign ministry advised its citizens to stay away from Japan, especially during the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday. Data from the Chinese travel platform Flight Master revealed that the flight cancellation rate between mainland China and Japan reached 47.2 percent in January, which is a 7.8 percentage point rise from December 2025. As of Monday, January 26, all flights on 49 routes scheduled for February have been cancelled. This includes 113 flights from Beijing’s Daxing International Airport to Osaka’s Kansai International Airport and 13 flights from Shenzhen’s Bao’an International Airport to Hokkaido’s New Chitose Airport. Chinese airlines such as Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern Airlines have also extended their policies on flight changes and refunds for travel to Japan until October 24. Initially, these policies were set to last only until March 28. In a statement on Monday, Air China stated that tickets purchased before January 26 for travel between March 29 and October 24, to and from Japan, can be changed or refunded. These airline policies were first introduced in November due to rising tensions between Beijing and Tokyo. This was after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made comments about Taiwan, suggesting that a Chinese attack could lead to a “survival-threatening situation” and provoke a military response from Japan.