China said Friday it was "firmly opposed" to and "strongly dissatisfied" with Japan's newly updated key defense-related documents, which describe Beijing as "the greatest strategic challenge" ever for Tokyo and lodged solemn representations with its neighbor.

In a statement, the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo said Japan's move "seriously deviates from the basic facts" and "provokes regional tension and confrontation." It urged Japan not to be obsessed with using the so-called China threat to indulge in its own military expansion.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin also said Friday at a press conference in Beijing that China urges Japan to "act upon the political consensus that the two countries are cooperative partners and do not pose a threat to each other."