Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a visit to Thailand on Thursday to discuss economic ties between the two Asian countries.

The three nation tour is seen as a visit to strengthen business ties with the fastest-growing regions in the world as well as to counter the growing Chinese influence in the region. PM Abe held a visit to Vietnam and Indonesia, besides Thailand. There are huge tensions over conflicting claim over areas in the South China Sea between China and host of other south East Asian regions.

"China has successfully built up its own military power but for what? We celebrate China's economic growth but it's not a good idea to threaten others or urge others by coercion or intimidation," Yutaka Yokoi, a Japanese foreign ministry official said.

Abe has criticized the way the authorities in China are handling the Island issue between the countries.

Abe was critical of Japan's larger neighbor for wrong handling of the territorial dispute over the islands called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. He said that it was wrong to damage business in order to achieve political objectives.

He pointed out that the Japanese companies and Japanese nationals in China are being harmed in order to achieve political objectives. The relationship between the two Asian economic giants has been severely affected due to the sovereignty over the islands as the issue has sparked nationalist feelings in both the nations.