Travelers had to change flights in Shanghai or Nanjing, Jiangsu province

This scenario would see official campaigning for the national poll kick off on Oct 10, with voters thereafter casting their ballots on Oct 22A lower house election must be held by December 2018 as this is when the four-year terms of current lower house lawmakers expire

If Abe goes ahead with his plan to call a snap election, then three by-elections that have been slated to take place on Oct 22 would be replaced by the general electionThe opposition camp, however, has criticized Abe's move to call a snap election, with some accusing him of merely trying to escape from the influence-peddling scandals he is currently implicated in and engineering his stay in power"Nikai on Tuesday, during a meeting of ruling LDP executives reportedly conveyed Abe's intentions and relayed the party's determination to get all of its candidates fielded in the race

Prior to Abe's departure Monday for a five-day trip to New York to attend the UN General Assembly, Abe told Nikai during a meeting that he "will decide on the timing of the snap election after returning from the UN General Assembly on FridayAbe last dissolved the lower house of parliament in November 2014 and thereafter led the ruling coalition to a sweeping victory in the following election in December

In addition, the fact that new opposition parties in the process of being formed will not have time to organize themselves and mount a serious challenge to Abe and the LDP in such a short space of time, has made many political watchers question Abe's regard for democracy and the will of the people

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is gearing up to dissolve the lower house of parliament and call a snap general election, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai confirmed on TuesdayCui: United Nations resolution also calls for dialogue Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai

"Cui, however, bluntly said that China will never recognize the DPRK as a nuclear state and opposes nuclear weapons anywhere on the Korean Peninsula and beyond, including Japan and TaiwanInstead, it should do more to find effective ways to resume dialogue and negotiations, Cui said

Hours after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea launched another missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean on Friday, Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai said Washington "should be doing much more than now", so that there's real, effective international cooperation on the Korean Peninsula issueWhen asked about the oil cuts, Ambassador Cui told reporters, "We are fully prepared to implement all the Security Council resolutions－no more, no less