Japan is looking to cool boiling tensions with China with the dispatch on Monday of a senior official to the country for talks to explain recent remarks by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi that Tokyo could deploy the Self-Defense Forces in a Taiwan emergency.
Masaaki Kanai, director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, is expected to meet with Liu Jinsong, director-general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Asian Affairs Department.
China has reacted furiously to Takaichi’s comments, warning its citizens Friday not to travel to Japan and on Sunday urging Chinese students currently in the country or planning to study there "to assess risks carefully, take necessary precautions and plan their studies prudently.”
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