Japan on Wednesday urged China to “show proper respect” when addressing Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi after a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman referred to her by name without using her official title.
“Even if there are differences in stances, I believe that showing proper respect to the leader of a country is a matter of course in terms of international protocol,” Japanese Foreign Press Secretary Toshihiro Kitamura told a news conference, according to the Kyodo news agency.
Kitamura said Tokyo had made an “appropriate request” to Beijing but declined to elaborate.
The dispute stems from a Sept. 30 news conference by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun, who referred to the Japanese premier simply as “Sanae Takaichi.”
Guo was responding to a question about Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi’s comments on discussions over possessing nuclear weapons and nuclear-powered submarines.
Guo said Japan, as a non-nuclear-weapon state under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, had an international legal obligation not to acquire nuclear weapons.
“There is no room for negotiation,” he said, adding that Takaichi had reiterated Japan’s commitment to its three non-nuclear principles in February.
Relations between the Asian neighbors have sharply deteriorated since Takaichi suggested in parliament last November that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could prompt a military response from Japan.
Beijing has repeatedly demanded that she retract the remarks, while the dispute has spilled into diplomatic and economic ties.
Takaichi, however, called China an “important neighbor” in a parliamentary policy speech Monday and pledged to pursue “constructive and stable” relations through dialogue while protecting Japan’s national interests.