BEIJING — China rejected as “slanderous” a renewed call by Japan’s premier for Beijing to rescind its controversial air defense zone, the latest salvo in a territorial dispute that has increased friction in the region.
Beijing’s retort came hours after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a Japan-ASEAN summit in Tokyo on Saturday that he was “deeply concerned” by China’s establishment of the air zone and that he believed “many” leaders of Southeast Asian countries attending the meeting shared his view.
“We express strong dissatisfaction with the Japanese leader’s use of an international meeting to make slanderous remarks about China,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement posted online late Saturday.
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