The Japanese prime minister says the ruling Communist Party of China uses the disputes to maintain strong domestic support.

 

　　The Chinese government has issued a response, saying it is astonished by the report.

 

　　The foreign ministry has issued a statement, saying such an assault goes against the will of the international community.

 

　　The foreign ministry goes on to say China is committed to developing relations with Japan, but will not sit by and watch the Japanese side distort China's diplomatic policy or make antagonistic moves regarding territorial issues.

 

　　A number of political observers here in China have been suggesting Shinzo Abe's trip is designed to try to garner US support in the Diaoyu Islands dispute.

 

　　Military expert Yin Zhuo.

 

　　"Abe is expecting to get that sentence back during talks with US President Barack Obama. Abe is going to ask the US government and President Obama to make promises. But I think Abe is not likely to get what he wanted because there is a reason why the US postponed his visit from January to February, that is because the US doesn't want the Diaoyu Islands issue to undermine the Sino-US relations."

 

　　While the Obama administration has said the Diaoyu Islands would fall under the US-Japan Mutual Defense treaty, Washington is also on record saying it takes no official position on the dispute.

 

　　Last month, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested the United States opposes actions undermining Japanese authority over the Diaoyu Islands.

 

　　However, that opinion hasn't been included by the new US Secretary of State John Kerry's statement on the Diaoyu Islands, which has reportedly left the Japanese side dissatisfied.

 

　　Abe's trip comes as the new Japanese government looks to make its mark on the international stage.

 

　　Abe's special envoy, former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

 

　　Japan and Russia are also at odds with one-another over a territorial dispute.

 

　　However, the two sides have mainly stressed their economic ties.

 

　　Russian President Vladimir Putin.

 

　　"On the whole, economic relations between us are developing very well, in car manufacturing, information technology, and energy. Japan, I believe, already receives about 10 percent of the liquefied natural gas produced in Russia."

 

　　Japan and Russia have long-standing dispute over the ownership the South Kurils, a group of islands Tokyo considers as part of its Northern Territories.

 

　　The islands between Japan's northern island of Hokkaido and Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula were taken over by the former Soviet Union at the tail-end of World War II.

 

　　Mori has told Putin the dispute over the islands is preventing the two sides from concluding a peace treaty.

 

　　Putin has told the Japanese envoy the absence of a treaty is an "abnormal situation".

 

　　Mori's trip to Russia is also laying the groundwork for a trip there by Shinzo Abe in "the near future."

 

　　At the same time, the Philippine foreign affairs department has confirmed Philippine and Japanese officials are set to meet in Manila later on this Friday to discuss maritime cooperation and security.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Su Yi.