Shinzo Abe criticises China over Tibet Shinzo Abe, head of the main Japanese opposition party, has criticised China over its human rights record in Tibet, in comments that will inflame tensions with Beijing. "I swear I will do everything in my power to change the situation in Tibet where human rights are being suppressed," the Liberal Democratic party leader said on Tuesday. Tibet seeks freedom and democracy and we agree on those values. Mr Abe's comments come at a sensitive time for Sino-Japanese relations which have been badly damaged by a spat over disputed islands in the East China Sea. China responded by filing a diplomatic protest with Tokyo without naming Mr Abe. The foreign ministry released a statement on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, saying, "Japanese rightwing forces have openly supported Dalai's separatist activities ... We express severe criticism to this. Mr Abe, a former prime minister who is a leading candidate to regain that role after elections that are expected to be held by next summer, was speaking after meeting the Dalai Lama. The Tibetan spiritual leader is on a 12-day tour of Japan that coincides with the Chinese Communist party's 18th Congress in Beijing. It comes as activists in China have reported a new wave of self-immolations in Tibet to protest against Chinese rule. Ten Tibetans have set themselves on fire this month in Tibetan-dominated parts of China, according to the exiled Tibetan leadership in India. Western activist organisations have reported mass protests in areas, including the western province of Qinghai, following self-immolations. While the Japanese government does not allow contact between its officials and the Dalai Lama, Beijing has often criticised Japan for allowing him to enter the country. On Monday, the Chinese foreign ministry hit out at the Dalai Lama for allying with the "Japanese rightwing," saying China is "opposed to any country or any person, under any circumstances, giving a platform for the Dalai's separatist activities." Mr Abe is in pole position to succeed Yoshihiko Noda as prime minister of Japan. Badly adrift in the polls, Mr Noda is under pressure from opposition politicians to call a lower-house election, having promised in August to do so "soon." Last month, the nationalist LDP leader antagonised China by visiting Yasukuni shrine, which houses Japan's war dead including some convicted war criminals. Relations between Asia's two biggest powers have been badly hurt by the dispute over the Senkaku islands - which China calls the Diaoyu - since the Japanese government decided to nationalise some of the islands in September. That move sparked violent anti-Japanese riots across China that forced the temporary closure of many Japanese companies" mainland operations.