The Chinese government has urged its citizens to avoid visiting Japan as recent remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on country’s potential involvement in a Taiwan contingency grow into a wider diplomatic row. China’s Foreign Ministry said provocative comments by Japan’s leader have caused the atmosphere surrounding people-to-people exchanges to deteriorate severely, posing significant risks to the safety of Chinese people in Japan.

It also claimed that Japan has become less safe this year, calling on Chinese people who live in Japan to pay attention to the law and order situation in the country and remain vigilant so as not to fall victim to crimes. The travel alert, coming after a series of warnings to Japan from the Chinese government, appears to be part of Beijing’s effort to cast Tokyo as being responsible for heightening bilateral tensions because of its position toward China.

Prime Minister Takaichi had told a parliamentary committee session last week that a Chinese military attack on Taiwan could present a survival-threatening situation for Japan, possibly leading it to exercise its right to collective self-defense.