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Sunday China denounced US "provocations" in the South China Sea and
said it does not fear "trouble" over its territorial disputes with neighbor’s
in the area.
"The South China Sea issue has become overheated
because of the provocations of certain countries for their own selfish
interests," Admiral Sun Jiangsu told a security summit in Singapore.
Sun, who stressed China's desire for a peaceful solution,
spoke one day after US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter warned that Chinese
construction on a South China Sea islet claimed by the Philippines would prompt
unspecified "actions" by the other and nations United States.
On Sunday visit to Mongolia, US Secretary of State John
Kerry also warned Beijing against setting up an air defense identification zone
over the disputed waters, saying it would be a "provocative and destabilizing
acts".
Rhetoric has escalated ahead of a ruling from the
Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on a case brought by the
Philippines, a longtime US ally and former colony, against China, which has
shunned the proceedings and says it will not recognise any ruling.
The Chinese admiral, in a clear reference to Washington,
said "freedom of navigation" patrols in the South China Sea were a
display of "military muscles" and that China was being forced to
"accept and honour" the tribunal's ruling.
"China firmly opposes such behavior. We do not make
trouble.
Carter had left Singapore by the time Sun made his speech.
In an open forum, Sun addressed Carter's statement on
Saturday that Beijing risks building a "Great Wall of self-isolation"
with its military expansion in the contested waters.
- China 'not isolated' -
"We were not isolated in the past. We're not
isolated, and we will not be isolated in the future. Actually I am worried some
people and countries are still looking at China with a Cold War mentality and
prejudice," the Chinese admiral said in response to questions from other
delegates.
Apparently referring to the Philippines, Sun said that
China was "by no means" a bully and charged that "some hegemonic
countries have empowered small countries to make provocations against big countries".
Hong Kong's South China Morning Post has reported that
China plans to establish an outpost on Scarborough Shoal, located 230
kilometres (140 miles) off the Philippines, which considers it part of its
exclusive economic zone.
Beijing claims nearly all of the strategically vital sea
and has developed contested reefs into artificial islands, some topped with
airstrips.
Manila says China took effective control of Scarborough
Shoal in 2012, stationing patrol vessels and shooing away Filipino fishermen,
after a two-month stand-off with the Philippine Navy.
Carter declined to elaborate when pressed on Saturday over
what "actions" Washington might take but proposed stronger bilateral
security cooperation with China to reduce the risk of a mishap.
French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drain told the forum
that the European Union had a stake in maintaining freedom of shipping and
navigation in the South China Sea, and said he would speak to his counterparts
on the issue.
Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also have competing claims
with China in the sea, which encompasses vital global shipping routes and is
believed to have significant oil and gas deposits.
Beijing's territorial claims, based on controversial
historical records, have also pitted it against the United States, which has
conducted patrols near Chinese-held islands to press for freedom of navigation.
Pentagon say two Chinese fighters last month conducted an
"unsafe" intercept of a US spy plane in international air space over
the South China Sea.