BEIJING (Reuters): China on Monday condemned the "evil designs" of Taiwan Premier Cho Jung-tai's rare visit to Japan over the weekend, on a trip he said was to support the island's baseball team and was private.
Cho flew to Japan on Saturday to watch Taiwan play in the World Baseball Classic, in what Taiwanese media said was the first trip to the country by a premier since Japan and Taiwan broke formal diplomatic ties in 1972.
China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, routinely lambasts any overseas trips by its leaders, but used especially strong language to target Cho.
"The person you mentioned harboured evil designs; acting stealthily and sneakily, he ran to Japan to engage in little tricks of seeking independence and making provocations," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing.
"Japan's indulgence of provocation and unbridled recklessness will certainly pay a price, and all consequences arising from this must be borne by the Japanese side."
Speaking in Tokyo earlier in the day, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said the Taiwan government had characterised the visit as "private" and that Tokyo was not in a position to comment.
"There was no contact with Japanese government officials," Kihara said.
Cho told reporters in Taipei on Sunday he was on a private visit to watch the baseball.
Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims and says only the island's people can decide its future. It says it also has a right to engage with other countries without China's interference.
In 2022, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, who was then vice president, went to Japan, also on a private trip, to pay his respects following the killing of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
China was angered by comments from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi last year that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese military response.
Japan ruled Taiwan as a colony from 1895 to 1945 and the two have close though unofficial ties.
(Reporting by Joe Cash in Beijing; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei and Kantaro Komiya in Tokyo; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Kate Mayberry) -- Reuters
