China has lodged a formal protest with Japan over the playing of the Taiwanese anthem at a basketball tournament in the Japanese city of Tokushima, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday.

A Japanese diplomat in Beijing was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Friday and received a "stern representation" over the incident, Xinhua said.

"China expresses strong protest and demands the Japanese side to immediately take effective measures to remove this vile influence and avoid similar events from happening again," the report said.  

Taiwan usually participates in international sporting events under the name "Chinese Taipei" and must use an Olympic flag and anthem.