Japan PM won't 'tolerate' China island challenge

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed on Friday that he would not "tolerate" any challenge to control over contested islands, after China's growing incursions into the area.

"We simply cannot tolerate any challenge now and in the future. No nation should make any miscalculation or underestimate the firmness of our resolve," Mr Abe said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"No one should ever doubt the robustness of the Japan-US alliance."

Speaking after talks at the White House with President Barack Obama, Mr Abe also cautioned that "I have absolutely no intention to climb up the escalation ladder." He called for the two nations to work on common interests and called Japan's relations with China "among the most important" with any country.