On Wednesday, Liu Jinsong, director general of the Department of Asian Affairs, summoned the chief minister of Japan’s embassy in Beijing Akira Yokochi to express “grave concern on issues including history, Taiwan and the safety of Chinese citizens in Japan”, the ministry said, without providing further details.
The summons came in the run-up to a series of commemorations to mark the end of World War II, commonly known in China as the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.
Japan’s wartime atrocities are a long-standing cause of tension between the two countries, while relations have also suffered as a result of rising nationalism and the ongoing territorial dispute over the Diaoyu Islands, known in Japan as the Senkakus.
Last month, Beijing issued another protest after Taiwanese foreign minister Lin Chia-lung made a rare visit to Japan. Beijing described that as sending a “seriously wrong signal” and “providing a platform for his anti-China separatist activities”.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary. In common with most countries, Japan does not formally recognise Taiwan as an independent state.
