Spokesman: Japan FM's remarks are 'shocking'

BEIJING - Chinese officials lashed out on Tuesday at Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara for his comments on Beijing's earlier reaction to the dispute over the Diaoyu Islands.

"We feel deeply shocked that a foreign minister of a country could make such remarks," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu in a regular news briefing.

Ma's comments came after Maehara said in parliament on Monday that China's countermeasures in September following Japan's illegal detention of a Chinese trawler captain near the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea were "hysterical".