BEIJING — As a fresh diplomatic tiff brews with Russia over President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to the disputed islands off Hokkaido, Beijing appears to continue playing hardball with Tokyo over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
"Japan is unable to afford having tensions with China and Russia at the same time," Liu Junhong, a researcher at the Institute of Japanese Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, was quoted as saying Tuesday in the Global Times, a sister publication of the Communist Party-controlled People's Daily.
"It's time for Japanese politicians to reflect on their diplomatic policy and sort out a solution," Liu was quoted as saying, a remark seen as suggesting Tokyo should compromise on the Senkaku Islands.