Foreign Minister Taro Kono brushed aside a provocative remark by his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, during their first talks since he assumed his post last week, saying he wants Beijing to "learn how to behave as a big power."
At the bilateral meeting in Manila on Monday, Wang told Kono, "Frankly speaking, we were disappointed to hear your comments" over issues surrounding the South China Sea during the East Asia Summit foreign ministers' meeting that was held earlier in the day.
Kono is widely seen as holding a pro-China stance. His father, Yohei Kono, a former foreign minister, is a regular visitor to China who has not tried to justify Japan's past colonial rule in Asia. The elder Kono has also steered clear of backing an LDP-proposed amendment to the pacifist Constitution.