China is growing apprehensive of Japan becoming nationalistic after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition scored a comfortable win in Sunday's upper house election, giving his party and its ally control of both chambers of parliament for the first time in six years.
"We hope Japan will be sincere in dealing with and settling relevant problems," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told Kyodo News in a statement, adding that Beijing's stance remains unchanged and that it wants to develop bilateral ties "by learning from history and facing the future."
Chinese media and some experts expressed concerns over a potential negative impact on already strained bilateral relations that may arise from the election outcome and said that they will be closely watching Abe's remarks in the days ahead to gauge whether he would moderate or toughen his already firm stance toward Beijing.
