China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced sanctions against Furuya Keiji, former chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party’s election campaign committee on March 30.

Furuya currently serves as chairman of the House of Representatives’ constitutional revision committee and also heads the cross-party Japan-China Parliamentary Friendship Association.

His assets in China will be frozen, and he will be banned from entering the country.

China said the move was due to Furuya's alleged "collusion with Taiwan independence forces" and gross interference in China's infernal affairs. The decision is believed to be in response to Furuya’s meeting with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te during his visit to Taiwan on March 16.

Furuya Keiji / We established this parliamentary association to promote exchanges between countries that share common values, so we are simply doing what is natural. Being sanctioned for this just makes me think, that is very likely of China.

Furuya said that he hasn’t visited China for decades and has zero assets there, adding that the sanctions would have no particular impact on him. He also emphasized the importance of his ties with Taiwan, explaining that his father had been seconded as a civil servant to the former Taiwan Governor-General’s Office.

In September 2025, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs imposed similar sanctions on a member of Japan’s House of Councillors from the Japan Innovation Party, accusing him of spreading false information regarding the Taiwan issue.