Japan moved on Monday to tamp down an escalating row with China over Taiwan that has prompted Beijing to urge citizens to halt travel to its East Asian neighbor.

Axar.az, citing Japan Today, reports that the dispute erupted after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told Japanese lawmakers this month that a Chinese attack on Taiwan threatening Japan's survival could trigger a military response.

Her comments broke with past administrations' avoidance of public discussion of such a scenario to avoid provoking Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island.

Masaaki Kanai, the Japanese foreign ministry official in charge of Asia and Oceania affairs, arrived in the Chinese capital to meet his counterpart, Liu Jinsong, a video broadcast by the Kyodo news agency showed on Monday.

Kanai is expected to explain that Japan's security policy has not changed, and urge China to refrain from actions that damage ties, media said.

Taiwan is located just about 110 km from Japan's westernmost island of Yonaguni, near sea lanes on which Tokyo relies for energy shipments. Japan also hosts the largest concentration of U.S. military power outside the United States.