China has urged its citizens not to travel to Japan and summoned the country's ambassador in Beijing over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's comments on Taiwan. China and Japan have been locked in an escalating war of words this week, set off by Takaichi's suggestion that Japan could respond with its own self-defence force if China attacked Taiwan.

China has warned its citizens not to travel to Japan in a spat over comments by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan.

China advised its citizens Friday to refrain from traveling to Japan in the near future. It cited earlier attacks against Chinese in Japan and what it called Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi 's "erroneous remarks" on Taiwan, which it said undermined the atmosphere for China-Japan exchange.

A China Coast Guard ship formation passed through the waters of the Senkaku Islands on Sunday on a "rights enforcement patrol", the China Coast Guard said in a statement, as Beijing ramps up tensions with Japan over its prime minister's remarks on Taiwan.

Both countries have summoned each other’s ambassadors after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said a Chinese attack on Taiwan could draw a military response from Tokyo.