Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang slammed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a meeting with Japanese business leaders Tuesday, putting the blame squarely on the Abe government for the severe strains in bilateral ties.
"The Abe regime is causing a lot of visible and invisible damage (to Japan-China ties) with the way it is acting now," Wang said in a meeting with a Japanese business delegation led by former Foreign Minister Yohei Kono.
Wang, however, hailed Kono's personal efforts to foster better ties between the two countries, describing the veteran Japanese politician as "an old friend of the Chinese people."