Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi rejected as "totally unacceptable" his Chinese counterpart's recent public remarks claiming Beijing's sovereignty over the Tokyo-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
"The Senkaku Islands are without doubt our country's inherent territory historically and under international law," Motegi told a parliamentary committee Friday, following criticism by some ruling party lawmakers that he took no action when Wang Yi made the territorial claims at a joint news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
He said that in the talks with Wang he "strongly urged" China not to take actions such as sending ships into Japanese territorial waters or having them come into contact with Japanese vessels in the area.