Thursday September 13, 2012

Japan's new China envoy 'collapses'

TOKYO: The newly appointed Japanese ambassador to China collapsed unconscious in Tokyo on Thursday, reports said.

Shinichi Nishimiya, who was officially appointed on Tuesday, was taken ill in the Japanese capital, said Fuji Television.

Kyodo News, citing an unnamed government official, said Nishimiya remained unconscious.

Nishimiya, a career diplomat, replaces Uichiro Niwa at a time Japan and China are at loggerheads over a disputed island chain in the East China Sea.

Niwa raised hackles at home when he said a plan by Tokyo's nationalist governor to buy the islands could cause a crisis between China and Japan, jeopardising economic ties.