Japan urges China to take ‘appropriate measures’ after travel warning

KIM KYUNG-HOON / REUTERS / OCT. 24

Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi delivers her first policy speech in parliament, in Tokyo, Japan, in October.

TOKYO >> Japan urged China today to take “appropriate measures” after Beijing warned Chinese citizens against visiting Japan, Kyodo news agency reported, in an ongoing dispute over Taiwan.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Japan had “conveyed the message to China and strongly asked it to take appropriate actions,” the report said. It did not quote him as elaborating on the measures.

China on Friday cautioned its citizens against visiting Japan in the spat sparked by comments from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. She said last week that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could amount to a “survival-threatening situation,” potentially triggering a military response from Tokyo.

Kihara said Japan and China differ on the issue and it was vital to maintain communication, Kyodo reported.

China claims democratically governed Taiwan and has not ruled out using force to take control of the island, which sits just 70 miles from Japanese territory. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.

Japanese leaders have previously avoided publicly mentioning Taiwan when discussing such scenarios, maintaining a “strategic ambiguity” also favored by Tokyo’s main security ally, the United States.

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Three Chinese airlines said today that tickets to Japan could be refunded or changed for free, according to state media China News Service.

A spokesperson for Taiwan’s Presidential Office, Karen Kuo, said Chinese travel restrictions on Japan and live-fire drills in surrounding areas have drawn attention to regional developments.

She said Beijing’s “politically motivated, multifaceted threats against Japan pose a grave danger to security and stability in the Indo-Pacific.”

The China Maritime Safety Administration said live-fire exercises would be conducted in parts of the central Yellow Sea around the clock from Monday through Tuesday and entry to the area would be prohibited, according to official media CCTV, which did not specify the area.

See more:World news

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