BEIJING, March 27 (Reuters) – Japan has expressed its “regret” over the break-in into the Chinese embassy in Tokyo by a knife-wielding Japanese military officer, but that is “far from enough”, said the Chinese foreign ministry on Friday.
The Japan side has still not said anything about the details of the incident, Lin Jian, spokesperson at the foreign ministry, told a regular news conference.
Minoru Kihara, Japan’s top government spokesperson, has described the incident on Tuesday as “regrettable” and said the government would take measures to prevent it from happening again.
The incident threatens to further roil Sino-Japanese ties. Relations have sharply deteriorated since November when the Japanese prime minister said Japan could deploy its military if a Chinese move against Taiwan also threatened its territory.
“The Japanese side has expressed deep regret to the Chinese side regarding this incident, but this is far from sufficient,” said Lin.
“We once again urge the Japanese side to conduct a thorough investigation as soon as possible and provide China with a responsible explanation.”
(Reporting by Ryan Woo and Ethan Wang; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.
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