Tension between Japan and China has escalated over the new Japanese leader's suggestion Tokyo could intervene militarily if Beijing attacks Taiwan.

China advised its citizens Friday to refrain from traveling to Japan in the near future. It cited earlier attacks against Chinese in Japan and what it called Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi 's "erroneous remarks" on Taiwan, which it said undermined the atmosphere for China-Japan exchange.

Japan scrambled fighter jets on Sunday after accusing China of flying a drone near its southern island of Yonaguni amid rising tensions between the Asian countries. Chinese coast guard vessels spent several hours in Japan’s territorial waters around the disputed Senkaku Islands,

Japanese tourism and retail stocks fell on Monday after China warned its citizens not to travel to the country as Tokyo and Beijing remain locked in a row over Taiwan.

The Japanese public is divided on whether Japan should exercise its right to collective self-defence if China attacks Taiwan, a Kyodo news agency poll found on Sunday.

Victim who is ‘slapped hard’ on the buttocks chases assailant, kicks him in the belly; police respond by saying there is nothing they can do.