Liaison group's renaming criticized

China asked Japan on Wednesday not to send a wrong message to Taiwan authorities and the international community by changing the name of its liaison organization in Taiwan.

"China is strongly dissatisfied with Japan's negative move on the Taiwan question," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily news conference in Beijing, urging Japan to adhere to the one-China principle.

The Interchange Association in Taiwan said in a statement on Wednesday that it will change its name to the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association beginning on Jan 1, according to the Kyodo News Agency.

The organization was established in 1972 when Japan normalized diplomatic relations with the Chinese mainland and cut "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan.

"China urged Japan to abide by principles under the 1972 Sino-Japanese Joint Statement and the promises it has made so far," Hua said. "China's stance on the Taiwan question has always been consistent and clear. We are strongly opposed to any attempt to create 'two Chinas' or 'one China, one Taiwan'".

She added that Japan "should not create new disturbances in the China-Japan relationship".

In the 1972 joint statement, Japan said it fully understood and respected the Chinese government's position that Taiwan is part of China.

In 2014, the two sides also reached a four-point consensus - which aimed to improve the ties soured by Japan's illegal purchase of China's Diaoyu Islands in 2012 - that reaffirmed the 1972 statement.

Lyu Yaodong, an expert on Japanese foreign policy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Tokyo's "petty move" in renaming the organization in Taiwan is a signal that it is trying to further improve its relationship with Taipei at the possible expense of harming ties with Beijing.

"This will not happen if Japan honestly implements the four-point consensus. However, the move reflects a lack of sincerity in Japan's efforts to ease the bilateral relationship as it has boasted," he said.

Da Zhigang, a Japanese studies researcher at the Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, said Japan is rousing the enthusiasm of Taiwan separatists by adding the names of Japan and Taiwan to the title.

"The move, which caters to Taiwan's pursuit of more international recognition, will deteriorate the current severe situation across the Taiwan Straits after US president-elect Donald Trump's call with Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen" on Dec 2, he said.