BEIJING, July 31 (Reuters) - An official at China's foreign ministry has expressed diplomatic discontent to Japan over negative comments made during a recent meeting with the United States, China's foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Liu Jinsong, China's director-general of Asian affairs at the Chinese foreign ministry, lodged a complaint to Japan over comments made by the U.S. and Japan over what they called Beijing's "provocative" behaviour in the South and East China Seas, its joint military exercises with Russia, and the rapid expansion of China's nuclear weapons arsenal.

"China urges Japan to establish an objective and rational understanding of China, and stop making irresponsible remarks about China's internal affairs," Liu said to the chief minister at the Japanese embassy in China on Tuesday, according to the statement.

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