The commander of the Chinese Navy will refuse to meet Japanese military officials at a regional naval symposium in China this week, a navy spokesman was quoted as saying on Sunday, citing what he called hurtful actions by Japanese leaders.
The decision to snub Japanese officials attending the Western Pacific Naval Symposium in Qingdao on Tuesday and Wednesday comes during a chill in relations between the world's No. 2 and No. 3 economies, amid a row over a chain of disputed islets in the East China Sea.
In addition to the territorial quarrel, China's ties with Japan have long been poisoned by what Beijing sees as Tokyo's failure to atone for its occupation of parts of China before and during World War II.