A Beijing man ripped the flag off the car of the Japanese ambassador, the Japanese Embassy said in another sign of the worsening China-Japan island dispute.

Kyodo News, quoting the embassy, reported the man attacked the official car of Japanese Ambassador to China Uichiro Niwa Monday and tore off the flag on the vehicle, but Niwa, who was traveling to the Embassy, was not harmed.

The embassy said at least two cars forced Niwa's car to stop in a major thoroughfare and the unidentified man later emerged from one of the vehicles and took off the vehicle's flag, Kyodo reported.

The Japanese Embassy said it has filed a protest with the Chinese Foreign Ministry and a senior Chinese Foreign Ministry official expressed "deep regret" over the incident, Kyodo said.

China's official Xinhua news agency quoted a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying relevant authorities were "seriously investigating" the reported flag incident while assuring his government always conscientiously complies with the Vienna Convention to protect the safety of foreign embassies and personnel.

The Xinhua report gave no other details.

The territorial dispute over the uninhabited Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea escalated after Chinese activists landed on one of them earlier this month to assert their country's sovereignty. Later, a group of Japanese activists made a similar landing on the same island to proclaim Japanese sovereignty.

Taiwan also has a claim on the islands, reported to have rich energy and fishing resources around them.

The island-landing incidents were followed by widespread protests in China. The islands are called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

The United States could be drawn into the issue as it is bound by a 1960 treaty to come to Japan's defense if the latter is attacked. The United States and Japan are holding a 37-day Pacific Ocean military drill, and Chinese observers see the drill as an expression of U.S. support for Japan over the islands in the context of the U.S. strategic pivot shift to the Asia-Pacific region.

In other developments, the Japanese government Monday turned down a request by the city government of Tokyo to land on Senkaku and survey the islands, Kyodo reported.

China Daily quoted one observer as saying the denial of the Tokyo government request revealed Japan's desire to ease tensions and change its strategy on the island dispute.

The report blamed Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara for the rising tensions, saying it was his proposal in April to purchase the islands from its private owners that led to the current situation.

China Daily said the Japanese government has offered $25.4 million to bring the islands under so-called state control by next month, and family members of the private owners have shown interest.

<한글 기사>

"일본대사 차량 습격" 일장기 강탈

주중 일본대사가 탄 차량이 습격을 받아 일장기를 강탈당한 사건과 관련해 중국 당국이 조사에 나섰다.

중국 외교부 대변인실은 28일 관영 신화통신 기자의 물음에 답하는 형식으로  "중국의 관련 부처가 진지한 조사를 진행하고 있다"며 "중국 정부는 줄곧  '영사관계 에 관한 빈 협약'을 진지하게 이행하는 가운데 중국 내 외국 공관과 관련 인원의 안 전을 보장하고 있다"고 밝혔다.

그러나 중국 외교부는 이 같은 답변 내용을 외교부 홈페이지에는 올리지는 않았다.

27일 오후 베이징에서 중국인으로 보이는 한 남성이 니와 우이치로(丹羽宇一郞.

73) 일본 대사가 탄 차량을 습격해 차량 앞에 꽂힌 일장기를 빼앗아 달아나는 사건 이 발생했다.

일본은 이번 사건이 댜오위다오(釣魚島•일본명 센카쿠 열도) 갈등과 관련된 행 동으로 보고 중국 외교부에 엄중히 항의했다.