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October 28, 2015

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China slams patrol by US warship

Source: Xinhua | October 28, 2015, Wednesday | Print Edition

CHINA yesterday slammed the United States for sailing a warship near Zhubi Reef of its Nansha Islands in the South China Sea, saying the move was a “threat to China’s sovereignty” and damaged China-US relations and regional peace.

The “USS Lassen” illegally entered waters near the Nansha yesterday without receiving permission from the Chinese government.

Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui summoned US Ambassador to China Max Baucus, lodging “serious representations” and expressing “strong discontent” over the patrol by the warship near Zhubi Reef.

China is “strongly discontented with and firmly against” the move, he said.

Zhang reiterated China’s claim of sovereignty over the islands and its adjacent waters, on the basis that China discovered, named and developed them.

“The Chinese government will resolutely safeguard territorial sovereignty and legal sea interests, and China will do whatever necessary to oppose deliberate provocation from any country,” he said.

Denying that China’s activity in the South China Sea will restrict freedom of navigation and overflight in accordance with international law, Zhang said China will nevertheless oppose any country infringing upon its sovereignty and security in the name of the freedom.

“There has been and will be no obstruction to navigation and overflight freedom in the South China Sea,” he said, labeling the US move “a show of force that is very likely to trigger an accident and harm peace and stability in the South China Sea.”

Earlier, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the action by the US threatened China’s sovereignty, and endangered the safety of personnel and facilities.

The country “will staunchly defend its territorial sovereignty” and “resolutely respond to any country’s deliberately provocative actions,” he said.

The construction activity undertaken by China on its own territory is an internal affair and will not block the legal freedom of other countries, Lu said.

Last night, the Chinese navy warned that further forays by the US naval vessel into the waters claimed by China in the South China Sea might “trigger eventualities.”

Navy spokesperson Liang Yang said the navy had monitored, tracked and issued warnings to “USS Lassen,” adding its reaction was legitimate and professional.

A Chinese guided-missile destroyer and a naval patrol ship shadowed and gave warnings to the US warship according to law, the Defense Ministry said on its website, adding that the military will take all necessary steps to protect the country’s security.

The US patrol was a “coercive action that seeks to militarize the South China Sea region” and an abuse of freedom of navigation under international law, it said.

“China’s sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and adjacent waters is irrefutable. The Chinese navy will resolutely perform duties and missions to unswervingly safeguard national sovereignty,” it added.

The navy will closely monitor the situation in and above the sea for goings-on that might jeopardize China’s national security, Liang said.

Earlier yesterday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in response to a question on the US Navy’s intention at a seminar, warned the US not to “make trouble out of nothing.”

“If it is true, we advise the US to think twice before it takes any action,” he said, urging the country “not to act in an imprudent way and not to make trouble out of nothing.”

Nation


 

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