HONG KONG – President Joe Biden An ally of the United States said this on Wednesday Japan including the economic struggle with other countries due to xenophobia Demon and Russia.
Speaking at a campaign fundraiser in Washington marking the start of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Biden said the U.S. economy is growing in part “because we’re welcoming immigrants.”
“Think about it,” he said. “Why is China doing so badly economically? Why is Japan in trouble? Why Russia?”
“Because they are xenophobic,” he said. “They don’t want immigrants”
Japan is a longtime ally of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region, and so is Biden Strengthening security ties with Tokyo He received the Prime Minister to welcome China in the region Fumio Kishida for a summit and state dinner in Washington last month.
There was no immediate reaction Thursday from Japan, which is mostly on vacation this week.
Like many other countries in Asia, Japan is struggling with demographic challenges, including an aging and declining population.
The country of 125 million people is trying to attract more foreign workers, but is hampered by restrictive immigration laws that make it difficult to obtain permanent residency.
In March, Japan’s Cabinet approved legislation that more than doubled the limit for foreign skilled workers to 800,000 and replaced the internship program with a training system for unskilled foreign workers that could provide medium- and long-term residency, local media reported.
It seems that the public attitude towards the issue has also changed.
This year’s nationwide survey by Asahi Shimbun newspaper 62% of respondents found that they were in favor of hiring foreign workers, up from 44% in 2018.
Japan ranked 35th among 56 countries 2020 Migrant Integration Policy Index, which characterized the country’s approach as “immigration without integration”. Foreign nationals in Japan are denied equal opportunities and a number of basic rights, particularly protection from discrimination, leaving them far behind other developed countries, the researchers said.
“Japan’s current policy encourages the public to see immigrants as subordinates, not neighbors.” the report says.
Japan is also struggling with a weak yen 34-year low against the dollarIt makes it less attractive as it competes with places like South Korea and Taiwan for foreign workers.
To maintain economic growth, the country will need 6.74 million foreign workers by 2040, Japan International Cooperation Agency 2022 report says, 2.05 million in the country in October. About a quarter of Japan’s foreign workers come from abroad VietnamChina followed with 19% and the Philippines with 11%, the Labor Ministry said in January.
The country is already experiencing severe labor shortages in agriculture, construction, manufacturing and other sectors, a problem exacerbated by border closures during the Covid-19 pandemic. Officials are also trying to close the gap by encouraging women to participate more in the labor force, as well as to retire later.
Japan, once the world’s second-largest economy, said in March that its economy grew at an annual rate of 0.4% in the final quarter of 2023, a contraction of 0.4% previously estimated. is in technical decline.
Now he the fourth largest economy in the world then fell behind Germany earlier this year.