TOKYO (Reuters) -A senior Japanese diplomat will head to China on Monday, Japanese media reported, as Tokyo tries to calm an escalating diplomatic spat over Taiwan that is straining relations between the East Asian neighbours.

The row erupted after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told Japanese lawmakers that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could threaten Japan’s survival and potentially trigger a military response, something officials had long avoided airing in public for fear of provoking Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island.

Masaaki Kanai, the director general of the Japanese foreign ministry’s Asia and Oceania bureau, will meet his Chinese counterpart, Liu Jinsong, Japanese media reported. Kanai is expected to explain that Takaichi’s comment does not signal a shift in Japanese securit

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