China increasingly seen as antagonist in diplomatic talks around the world

When the top diplomats of four major Asia-Pacific nations met in the Indian capital of New Delhi on Friday to discuss issues in the region, one had a direct message for the behemoth whose shadow loomed over the talk. China must "act under the international institutions, standards and laws" to avoid conflict, Yoshimasa Hayashi, the foreign minister of Japan, said on a public panel that included his counterparts from the United States, India and Australia. In a sign of the delicate balance they are trying to strike in relations with Beijing, the diplomats took pains to stress in their public…