China's Li Na will play in Tokyo next week, even though China and Japan are involved over a dispute which has caused athletes in other sports to pull out of events, tournament organizers told the local media.
The dispute between China and Japan is over Japanese-administered islands in the East China Sea called Senkaku, in Japan, and Diaoyu in China. Japan nationalized them earlier this month, after which anti-Japan demonstrations broke out in China.
Japanese table tennis, rugby, and cycling teams have pulled out of events in China over fears for their safety, although Japanese tennis player Kei Nishikori has said that he will compete in the Shanghai Masters next month. Chinese badminton players withdrew from this week's Japan Open in Tokyo, and China's National Tourism Administration has cancelled plans to attend an international trade fair in Japan.
The eighth-ranked Li is in the Tokyo draw, which was released on Friday, as is China’s Zheng Jie and Peng Shuai.