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The Foreign Ministry said Mrs. Clinton "ignores the facts and confuses right and wrong" in a short description she gave of the situation at a news conference in Washington on Friday.

The unusual objection, released as Mrs. Clinton prepares to step down as secretary of state, appears to have been prompted by a new phrase used by Mrs. Clinton in what was an otherwise standard reference to the escalating feud between China and Japan.

With Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan standing beside her, Mrs. Clinton said that the Obama administration opposed "any unilateral actions that would seek to undermine Japanese administration" of the islands, known as Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan.

The reference to unilateral actions was interpreted in the Japanese news media as meaning that the United States was unhappy with China's recent actions in the East China Sea, where the islands are located.

In the past several months, both China and Japan have sent civilian maritime vessels to the waters around the uninhabited islands. On Jan. 10, China ordered a surveillance aircraft to fly near the area. In response, Japan scrambled F-15 fighter jets to take a look, and in response to the Japanese, the Chinese dispatched F-10 fighter jets.

The tit-for-tat moves have raised concerns that an accident could occur and lead to a dangerous cycle of retaliation.

Under a longstanding security treaty with Japan, the United States is obliged to defend the country, including the uninhabited islands, a position that Mrs. Clinton referred to at the news conference. She also repeated that Washington recognized that the islands were administered by Japan.

For its part, China insists that the islands belong to China, a claim that it says is supported by historical documents.

The statement on Sunday by the Foreign Ministry's chief spokesman, Qin Gang, said that Japan had "constantly adopted escalatory and provocative actions" and that the "United States has a historical responsibility over the Diaoyu Islands that cannot be shirked." The Foreign Ministry did not elaborate on the meaning of the American responsibility, but it appeared to be a reference to the return of the islands to Japan by the United States in 1972 at the same time that Okinawa was handed back to Japan.

In addition to the Foreign Ministry statement, the Chinese military unleashed strong warnings in its news media outlets about the need for the army to be ready for war.

The reports did not refer directly to Japan, but more broadly echoed a recent declaration by the new Communist Party leader, Xi Jinping, that the Chinese military could not rest on its laurels after a long period of peace.

The People's Liberation Army Daily, a military newspaper, said Sunday in a front-page article that a "long period without battle has encouraged the fixed habits of peace in some of the military so that their preparedness for battle is dulled."

The newspaper said that some troops had recently conducted exercises in the Beijing military region.

As the tone of remarks toughens in China, the leader of the New Komeito Party, a coalition partner in the new Japanese government led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is expected in Beijing this week.

The party leader, Natsuo Yamaguchi, said he would travel to China in an effort to relieve tensions and take a step toward managing the dispute, if not solving it.

The New Komeito Party has been involved in previous reconciliation efforts with China, most notably in 1972 when China and Japan resumed normal diplomatic relations with each other.