Japan’s first lawmaker of Uyghur heritage is urging her country to take a stronger position on China’s human rights record, while also calling for a heightened defense posture in response to Beijing’s increasing military assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
Arfiya Eri, born in Japan to ethnic Uyghur and Uzbek parents, was elected to the lower house of the Japanese Diet in 2023 representing a district just outside Tokyo. Before that, she was educated partly abroad, including in China and the U.S., and worked for the Bank of Japan and the United Nations.
