China's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the recent characterisation of Taiwan as a "country" by a senior Japanese official was erroneous and a serious violation.
Japan's deputy defence minister on Monday warned of a growing threat posed by Chinese and Russian collaboration and said it was necessary to "wake up" to Beijing's pressure on Taiwan and protect the island "as a democratic country".
(Reporting by Cate Cadell; Writing by Ryan Woo; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
