China warns Japan that trade ties could be hurt by island dispute "With Japan's so-called purchase of the islands, it will be hard to avoid negative consequences for Sino-Japanese economic and trade ties," said Jiang Zengwei, the Chinese vice minister of Commerce. Mr Jiang suggested that peaceful boycotts of Japanese goods, such as cars and electronics, could now begin. Meanwhile, travel agents have reported a series of cancelled tour holidays. When China clashed with the Philippines over a patch of the South China Sea earlier in the year, Chinese were told not to holiday there. "I still have not seen any actions by Chinese consumers in response to the Japanese violation of Chinese territorial sovereignty, but if we do see them expressing their stance and views in a reasonable way, I think that would be their right," he said. A Nissan Motor executive said last week that the tensions are affecting business with China. "The Diaoyu Islands conflict is a new turning point in the deterioration of Sino-Japanese relations," said the nationalistic Global Times newspaper. Meanwhile, the new Japanese ambassador to Beijing, appointed on Tuesday, collapsed on Thursday in Tokyo and had to be taken to hospital for treatment.