Tokyo - Japan's Foreign Minister, Mr Yohei Kono, has strongly criticised the governor of Tokyo, Mr Shintaro Ishihara, for likening Chinese President Jiang Zemin to Adolf Hitler.
The Kyodo news agency quoted Mr Kono as telling reporters: " As foreign minister, I must say the remarks were extremely deplorable."
Mr Ishihara has infuriated China in the past by voicing his disapproval of the Beijing government and by saying it posed a military threat to the rest of Asia because its leaders were bent on territorial expansion.