BEIJING, March 24 (Reuters) – China has lodged a protest and made representations with the Japanese government after what it described as a “forceful break-in” at its embassy in Tokyo, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
An individual who claimed to be an active-duty officer of Japan’s military, the Self-Defense Forces, scaled the wall and forcibly entered the Chinese Embassy on Tuesday morning, ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a regular press conference.
“The individual admitted that the actions were illegal and threatened to kill Chinese diplomatic personnel in the so-called name of God,” Lin said.
China is deeply shocked by the incident, Lin said, urging Tokyo to conduct a thorough investigation, punish those responsible and provide an explanation.
“The Japanese side must effectively guarantee the safety of the premises and personnel of Chinese embassies and consulates in Japan, reflect on and correct its policies towards China, and fundamentally prevent such incidents from occurring again,” he said.
Japan’s Ministry of Defence said in an emailed message it was aware of media reports on the incident but it declined to comment further.
Ties between the Asian neighbours have deteriorated since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested last November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan, the democratically governed island China claims its own, could trigger a military response from Tokyo.
Japan is set to downgrade its description of ties with China from “one of its most important” relationships in an annual diplomatic report and will instead describe it as an important neighbour and the relationship as “strategic” and “mutually beneficial”, citing a series of confrontations with Beijing over the past year, according to a draft reviewed by Reuters.
Asked about the decision, Lin reiterated a call for Takaichi to withdraw her remarks.
(Reporting by Liz Lee and Ethan Wang; Additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Arun Koyyur)
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