TOKYO - JAPAN'S sacked air force commander on Tuesday defended his view of the country's militarist past and called for an overhaul of the pacifist constitution.

'I do not think I was wrong in any way,' said former general Toshio Tamogami, who was fired last month after writing an essay in which he denied the country was an aggressor in World War II.

TAIPEI - A 79-YEAR-OLD Taiwan man set himself on fire on Tuesday near a week-old anti-government protest but the reason for his action and his condition were not immediately known, the capital's fire department said.

The man, Liu Bo-yan of central Taiwan, poured fuel on himself and then set himself alight. Firefighters found him alive and sent him to a hospital for treatment, a department official said.

BEIJING - CHINA objected strongly on Tuesday to comments by India's foreign minister in which he rejected Chinese claims over a border region long disputed by the two giants.

'We express deep regret over India's public remarks that ignore historic facts', Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said during a regular news briefing.