Chinese Ambassador to Japan Kong Xuanyou on Thursday urged Japan not to join the U.S.-led diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights issues, likening it to a "political performance."
"Unfortunately, some people in Japan have been attacking China's political system based on their biased views and spreading rumors and lies about the human rights situations in Xinjiang and Hong Kong to call for a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games," the envoy said in a meeting held at Kyodo News.
Kong said he wants Japan to be "strongly cautious about and block such a dangerous" move so as not to damage bilateral diplomatic ties, which will mark next year the 50th anniversary of their normalization.