HANOI - Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue accused Japanese representatives here Friday of violating China's sovereignty and territorial integrity through statements to the media during the summit meetings between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its partners.

The Japanese side also made untrue statements about the content of a meeting between Chinese and Japanese foreign ministers held earlier in the day, he said.

Hu said the Japanese move ruined the atmosphere for leaders from the two sides to conduct talks in the Vietnamese capital.

The Japanese side should take full responsibility for any consequence to arise, the Chinese diplomat said.

It was known to all that China had always tried to preserve and push forward bilateral relations between China and Japan on the basis of the principles set out in the four political documents signed by the two countries, Hu said.

However, the truth was that the diplomatic authority of Japan, in cahoots with other nations, tried to create noises on the issue of the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea in the lead-up to the summits between ASEAN and its partners. On top of that, during the summits, the Japanese side frequently made use of media outlets to make statements and comments that violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China, Hu said.

When meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Seiji Maehara, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi set forth China's principled position on the issue concerning the Diaoyu Islands, stressing that the Diaoyu Islands had been an integral part of Chinese territory since ancient times, Hu said.

The Japanese side was making untrue statements about the content of the meeting and distorted China's stance in implementing the principled consensus between the two countries on the East China Sea issue, Hu said.