China tells Japan to ‘behave’ properly as it dismisses call for talks

China has urged Tokyo to “behave with restraint” after it called for talks amid the diplomatic freeze over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments about Taiwan.

Asked about a possible meeting between Premier Li Qiang and Takaichi on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Summit in South Africa this weekend, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said China had no such plans.

“There’s no arrangement for Premier Li Qiang meeting the Japanese leader. We urge Japan to behave with proper self-restraint,” Mao said on Thursday.

Beijing said on Monday that Li would not meet Takaichi in South Africa, but Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara Minoru said the following day that Tokyo was still open to dialogue with China.

Mao’s remarks came on the same day that China reportedly cancelled a ministerial-level meeting scheduled for this month with South Korea and Japan.

The culture ministers’ meeting was scheduled to be held as part of a three-way cooperation mechanism established in the aftermath of the 1998 Asian financial crisis as a way of deepening regional integration.

Speaking to reporters in Beijing, Mao said that Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan had “undermined the foundation and atmosphere” of the cooperation mechanism and “made the conditions of holding China-Japan-South Korea meetings temporarily unsuitable”.