Tokyo's governor, known for his xenophobic remarks, on Saturday called China's first manned spaceflight "behind the times" and said Chinese were so elated by their success because they are "ignorant," according to a media report.
Governor Shintaro Ishihara was in southern Japan speaking in support of a candidate who is campaigning for next week's national elections.
When questioned about the Japanese government's wasteful spending of taxpayer money, Ishihara stressed that officials were pouring resources into developing world-class technology, such as its satellite-carrying H-2A rockets.
Then he attacked China's success at putting an astronaut into space aboard the Shenzhou 5 capsule in mid-October.
"In neighboring China, people were surprised when the country sent up a manned spacecraft. Chinese people were so ecstatic about it because they are ignorant," Ishihara was quoted as saying Saturday on the national Mainichi newspaper's Web site.
"That sort of thing is behind the times. Japan could have done it in a year, if it had tried," Ishihara told the gathering at a hotel in Ibusuki city, on the southernmost main island of Kyushu.
Tokyo government officials couldn't be reached to confirm Ishihara's remarks, which are certain to anger China.
It's the second time in less than a week that Ishihara has made offensive comments about one of Japan's neighbors.
Last Wednesday, Ishihara angered Koreans by calling Japan's invasion and brutal 35-year colonization of the Korean Peninsula a "merger" the Koreans chose.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry immediately expressed "deep regret" over Ishihara's comments, saying Seoul and Tokyo would have trouble improving ties "without proper recognition of past history."
Korean groups in Japan demanded an immediate apology.
Since being elected in 1999, Ishihara has frequently offended foreign residents, Asian nations and women with comments widely condemned as racist or misogynist. A year after assuming his post, Ishihara said Japan's military should be on the alert since foreigners could run amok after an earthquake.
But Ishihara is a popular figure. In public opinion polls, he consistently ranks among people's top choices for prime minister.
His policies aimed at tackling pollution and crime and filling Tokyo's coffers were key in his re-election to a second term in April.
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