China criticizes Japan's plan to deploy missiles on island near Taiwan

China called Japan‘s plan to deploy missiles on an island near Taiwan a deliberate attempt to “create regional tension and provoke military confrontation” on Monday, as a diplomatic dispute simmers between the two nations.

BEIJING — China called Japan’s plan to deploy missiles on an island near Taiwan a deliberate attempt to “create regional tension and provoke military confrontation” on Monday, as a diplomatic dispute simmers between the two nations.

The remarks come amid their worst diplomatic crisis in years, after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said this month that a hypothetical Chinese attack on democratically governed Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.

“Right-wing forces in Japan are ... leading Japan and the region toward disaster,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular news briefing.

Beijing “is determined and capable of safeguarding its national territorial sovereignty,” she added.

The comments followed Sunday’s remarks by Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi that plans were “steadily moving forward” to deploy a medium-range surface-to-air missile unit at a military base on Yonaguni, an island about 68 miles off Taiwan’s east coast.