Chinese media and ordinary citizens expressed outrage Monday towards Japan, as an escalating diplomatic spat threatens to wreck relations strained by historical grievances and strategic rivalry.

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on November 7 that the use of force against self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims, could warrant a military response from Tokyo.

"What does our country's unification have to do with them?" said 36-year-old Sun Gang, a Beijing restaurant industry worker, referring to China's goal of taking Taiwan.

"It's like someone interfering in your own family," he told AFP.

China, which has not ruled out using force to take Taiwan, has reacted furiously to Takaichi's comments, calling for her to retract the remarks and summoning the Japanese ambassador on Friday.

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