Hong Kong (CNN) -- The newly appointed Japanese ambassador to China has died after taking ill and collapsing in Tokyo late last week. In a brief statement, the Japanese Foreign Ministry confirmed Shinichi Nishimiya, 60, died on Sunday after spending the weekend in hospital because of his "health condition." He collapsed just two days after being appointed to the job. The ministry did not disclose any further details about what had happened. Panasonic closes China plants after protests Previously a deputy minister for foreign affairs, Nishimiya was due to replace the current Japanese envoy in Beijing, 72-year-old Uichiro Niwa, in the coming weeks amid heightened tensions between Japan and China.
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Japanese Foreign Ministry confirms Shinichi Nishimiya, 60, died on Sunday
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Nishimiya was due to replace the current Japanese envoy in Beijing -- Uichiro Niwa
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His death comes amid worsening relations between China and Japan
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Both countries claim sovereignty over a group of islands in the East China Sea
Though @placeholder officials have sought to play down the significance of the deal to buy the islands, the dispute has come to represent what many Chinese people see as unfinished business: redressing the impact of the Japanese occupation of large swathes of eastern China during the 1930s and 1940s.