Trade cooperation between China and Japan has been seriously affected after the Japanese Prime Minister's recent comments on Taiwan, Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman He Yongqiang said, quoted by "Reuters", reports News.bg.
He stressed that if Japan decides to follow the "wrong" course, China will take necessary measures to protect its interests.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks have triggered the most serious diplomatic crisis between the two countries in years. She said that if a Chinese attack on Taiwan threatened Japan's survival, Tokyo could react to meet that threat.
At the same time, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te demonstrated his support for Japan by eating sushi for lunch after China banned all seafood imports from Taiwan.
On his social media, Lai posted photos of himself eating sushi made from yellowtail seafood from the Japanese region of Kagoshima and mussels from Hokkaido. "Today's lunch is sushi and miso soup," he wrote on Facebook and Instagram, and also posted the same text in Japanese on his X account.
Taiwan's Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said earlier that China's use of economic and military means to pressure other countries was too numerous to mention separately.
He added that "at this critical moment, we must support Japan in stabilizing the situation and ending the bullying actions of the Chinese communists."