Beijing ‘reserves right to respond’ after Japanese city changes disputed area name

China said on Monday it reserves the right to respond to a Japanese city’s decision to rename the administrative area that includes remote islands claimed by both Beijing and Tokyo. The row over the uninhabited East China Sea islets may add to tension caused by Japan’s criticisms of Beijing’s plan to impose a new national security law in Hong Kong, Reuters said.

China has said Japan should not interfere in its internal affairs. The disputed islands are known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. Japanese broadcaster NHK reported earlier that the Ishigaki City assembly in Okinawa, in southern Japan, had passed a bill to change the name of the administrative area covering the islands from Tonoshiro to Tonoshiro Senkaku, from October 1.

The Foreign Ministry in Beijing said that the bill was “a serious provocation to China’s territorial sovereignty, is illegal, invalid, and cannot change the fact that the Diaoyu Islands belong to China.” Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian added that “China’s resolve and determination to protect its territorial sovereignty is unwavering.”

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said last week that Tokyo would take all measures to ensure surveillance of the areas around the disputed islands.