China approves head of Japan mission in Chongqing after monthslong vacancy

China has officially appointed a new acting consul general from Japan in Chongqing, a Japanese government source reported on Wednesday. This decision comes eight months after the consul general position was left vacant due to a diplomatic dispute over Taiwan. Shigehiro Nishiumi, who previously served as the deputy Japanese consul general in Hong Kong, took up the role at the country's diplomatic mission in the southwestern Chinese city on August 4th.

Prior to Nishiumi's appointment, there was no head of the Japanese diplomatic mission in Chongqing. This gap in leadership began when Mari Takada, the previous consul general, was promoted to the position of chief of the consulate general in Shenyang, a city in northeastern China, on December 5th, according to the Japanese government's website.

Tensions between the two nations have been heightened following remarks made by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in November last year. During a parliamentary session, Takaichi suggested that Japan would take action if an attack were to occur on Taiwan, a self-governing democratic island that China claims as its own territory. As a result, Beijing has been intensifying its pressure on Tokyo.