A prominent general of the Chinese military urged Japan on Tuesday to "immediately stop dangerous moves that endanger China-Japan maritime and airspace security".

Xu Qiliang, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks during a briefing with Geoffrey Brown, the visiting air marshal of the royal Australian air force.

In late May, Japan accused Chinese fighter jets of "unusually approaching Japanese reconnaissance aircraft". Last week, Beijing and Tokyo traded bitter remarks after Japan made a similar accusation.