World War Three fears are on the rise after China publicly slapped down Japan's Prime Minister.
Beijing issued the threat of military action against Tokyo if it tries to interfere in Taiwan.
Tensions between the two countries, which have been historically terse, exploded last week.
Last Friday, Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi said Tokyo could respond with force if China attacked the country - which Beijing's communist bosses consider their own soil.
She added: "If there are battleships and the use of force, no matter how you think about it, it could constitute a survival-threatening situation."
The phrase "survival-threatening situation" is a legal term introduced under Japan's 2015 security law and refers to any attack on the nation or its allies which could present an existential threat.
Japan's self-defence forces can then be deployed as a response.
Beijing slated the comments, branding them "egregious" and demanding Ms Takaichi rescind them.
Beijing issued the threat of military action against Tokyo if it tries to interfere over the sovereignty of Taiwan
|GETTY
When she did not, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said: "Japan must fully repent for its war crimes, immediately stop its wrong and provocative statements and actions that interfere in China's internal affairs, and stop playing with fire on the Taiwan question.
"Those who play with fire will perish with it."
He also reiterated that this year marks the 80th anniversary of China's victory over Japan in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the recovery of Taiwan.
Mr Lin branded Japan's language militaristic under the pretense of self-defence.
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Sanae Takaichi made comments last week which sent Beijing into a fury
|REUTERS
He continued: "If Japan dares to intervene [in Taiwan], China will firmly exercise its right to self-defence under the UN charter."
Last month, China pressured the UK to support its claim over Taiwan.
Zheng Zeguang, the Chinese Ambassador to the UK, said the future of relations between Britain and Beijing relied on Westminster accepting "Taiwan has never been a country" and "both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to... China".
'If Japan dares to intervene [in Taiwan], China will firmly exercise its right to self-defence,' Lin Jian said
|GETTY
In September, China put on a major show of force by sailing its largest and most advanced aircraft carrier through the South China Sea.
The Chinese navy claimed: "This cross-regional trial and training exercise for the Fujian [the aircraft carrier] is a routine arrangement in the carrier's construction process and is not directed at any specific target."
However, the situation was watched closely by both Japan and Taiwanese forces.