Beijing urges Japanese politicians not to harm China's sovereignty

Beijing has urged Tokyo not to harm China's sovereignty after former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a telephonic conversation with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

"Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. China firmly opposes official interaction in any form between countries having diplomatic ties with China and Taiwan," said Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry on Friday during the regular press conference.

"We solemnly urge certain Japanese politicians not to harm China's sovereignty in any way and not to send wrong signals to "Taiwan independence" forces in any way," Zhao added.

The Chinese official also warned Taipei against its attempts to gather foreign support to advance its agenda.

"We also have this solemn warning to Taiwan authorities: all attempts to advance its agenda by soliciting foreign support are doomed to fail," said Zhao.

It came after Taiwan recently confirmed that Tsai Ing-wen and Shinzo Abe had a phone conversation in January, during which she thanked Abe and the Japanese government for their support to Taiwan.

Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.

Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing. China has threatened that "Taiwan's independence" means war.

( With inputs from ANI )

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