China's envoy to Japan, Kong Xuanyou, on Thursday (December 16) said the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics had been unfortunately "used as a political tool," and asked for Japan's support, while also warning Tokyo not to interfere on Taiwan.
Kong's speech came as members of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Liberal Democratic Party (LPD) call for a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games which is scheduled in February next year.
The United States and other nations have announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics due to what they say are human rights abuses in Hong Kong and China's Xinjiang region, but Japan has yet to make a decision. Kishida earlier on Thursday said he has no plans to attend the Winter Olympics at the moment, taking what appeared to be a slightly softer tone.
"Given that Japan has been opposed to politicizing sports events, and China supported Tokyo hosting the Olympics, I think Japan should have good intentions towards our Games," Kong said during his speech.