China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday its embassy in Japan had lodged "stern representations" with the government there about Taiwan Vice President William Lai attending the funeral of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
Lai visited Japan in what a Japanese official described as a private visit to pay his respects as a friend of Abe's, a move that was always likely to upset Beijing which considers democratically ruled Taiwan its own territory with no right to the trappings of a state.
