Lord Voldemort , the arch-villain in the Harry Potter series of books and films , has played an unlikely cameo in a diplomatic feud between China and Japan . China 's foreign ministry spokeswoman on Tuesday accused a Japanese diplomat of being `` ignorant , unreasonable and arrogant '' after the two countries upped the stakes in their propaganda war by likening each other to the fictional evil wizard . China 's ambassador to the United Kingdom , Liu Xiaoming , first made reference to the character in an opinion piece published by Britain 's Daily Telegraph last week . It came in response to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 's December 26 visit to Tokyo 's Yasukuni shrine , where convicted war criminals are honored along with other war dead . The move incensed China , which suffered under Japan 's military aggression in World War II , and regards the shrine as a symbol of Japan 's imperial past . `` If militarism is like the haunting Voldemort of Japan , the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo is a kind of horcrux , representing the darkest parts of that nation 's soul , '' Liu wrote . In the best-selling series by British author J.K. Rowling , a horcrux is used by Voldemort to hide fragments of the soul in a bid to prolong life . Not to be outdone in this literary war of words , Liu 's commentary was followed by another from Japan 's ambassador to the United Kingdom , Keiichi Hayashi : . `` There are two paths open to China . One is to seek dialogue , and abide by the rule of law . The other is to play the role of Voldemort in the region by letting loose the evil of an arms race and escalation of tensions , '' he wrote in the same paper . The riposte prompted Chinese state media to warn `` a war of public opinion between China and Japan is now in full swing . '' `` There are no flying cannonballs in the battlefield of public opinion , but it still requires the unity of the entire Chinese society to fight this war , '' The Global Times , a tabloid owned by the Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece The People 's Daily , said on its website on Tuesday . However , Internet users in both countries seemed amused rather than alarmed by the latest and surreal twist in the long-running diplomatic tit-for-tat . `` I think China and Japan are more like two kids who have not grown up , '' posted @ Xiaowei Huang on China 's popular Twitter-like platform Weibo . `` The method is refreshing and the cultural reference down to earth , '' said another Weibo user with the handle @ luotiehang . In Japan , Twitter user @ emtyusuke welcomed the debate : `` It is good to use wit and rhetoric to appeal each other 's claim , without being overly emotional . '' Abe 's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine exacerbated tensions at a time when relations between Japan and China have been strained over the sovereignty of a set of islands in the East China Sea known as the Diaoyu islands in China and the Senkakus in Japan .
China 's foreign ministry says Japanese diplomat `` ignorant , unreasonable and arrogant '' Comments come after envoys from both countries invoked Voldemort , Harry Potter 's enemy . Tensions have been strained after war shrine visit and escalation of island dispute . Unexpected and surreal turn of events bemuses internet users in both countries .