Defense: Shipping lanes open
Source: Agencies/Shanghai Daily |
July 31, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
China will respect the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, as long as ships and aircraft transiting through "comply with international law," the Defense Ministry's spokesman said yesterday.
Senior Colonel Geng Yansheng also denied that China had stepped up military drills in recent weeks, despite a constant stream of reports about naval and on-shore maneuvers, saying the armed forces were just being more open about their usual activities.
Geng said China had no intention of trying to restrict access to the vital shipping lanes in the South China Sea for legitimate vessels.
"We will, in accordance with the demands of international law, respect the freedom of the passage of ships or aircraft from relevant countries which are in compliance with international law," Geng said at a news conference held at an engineering regiment's base in the outlying Beijing suburb of Fangshan.
China strongly opposes US naval surveillance missions conducted in the South China Sea off its southern coast, calling them illegal.
Geng criticized remarks by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week that Washington had a strong interest in seeing territorial disputes in the South China Sea resolved peacefully.
Geng said China opposes the "internationalization" of the matter.
China has long-standing disagreements with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam over boundaries in the area.
Geng said China has "indisputable sovereignty" over islands in the South China Sea and the surrounding waters.
Sino-US relations got off to a bad start in the new year with a spat over US arms sales to Taiwan.
Gang said the US bore responsibility for repairing a rift in ties that prompted China earlier to suspend exchanges with the US military in anger over Washington's US$6.4 billion arms sale to Taiwan and turn down a proposed visit by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
"We hope the US side prudently handles arms sales to Taiwan and other sensitive issues," Geng said.
He also said that China's defense expenditure has always been maintained at a reasonable and appropriate level.
China's annual defense expenditure has been around 1.4 percent of its GDP in recent years while the share of some major world powers is between 2 and 4 percent, he said.
"We have always coordinated the national defense building with the country's economic development," Geng said.
He said China has and always will take the road of peaceful development and pursue a purely defensive national defense policy.
"The fundamental task of the Chinese military is to protect the nation's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity," he said.
Currently, China's security environment is generally stable, but there are still some threats, he said.
Over the past few weeks, Chinese media have reported on a series of military exercises, in the South China Sea as well as in waters off China's east coast.
Geng said people should not read too much into the Chinese drills, which he said were no different from the kind of exercises carried out by other countries.
"In recent years, the Chinese military has increased its reporting on exercises, mainly to show that the military is even more open and transparent," Geng told the reporters.
Senior Colonel Geng Yansheng also denied that China had stepped up military drills in recent weeks, despite a constant stream of reports about naval and on-shore maneuvers, saying the armed forces were just being more open about their usual activities.
Geng said China had no intention of trying to restrict access to the vital shipping lanes in the South China Sea for legitimate vessels.
"We will, in accordance with the demands of international law, respect the freedom of the passage of ships or aircraft from relevant countries which are in compliance with international law," Geng said at a news conference held at an engineering regiment's base in the outlying Beijing suburb of Fangshan.
China strongly opposes US naval surveillance missions conducted in the South China Sea off its southern coast, calling them illegal.
Geng criticized remarks by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week that Washington had a strong interest in seeing territorial disputes in the South China Sea resolved peacefully.
Geng said China opposes the "internationalization" of the matter.
China has long-standing disagreements with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam over boundaries in the area.
Geng said China has "indisputable sovereignty" over islands in the South China Sea and the surrounding waters.
Sino-US relations got off to a bad start in the new year with a spat over US arms sales to Taiwan.
Gang said the US bore responsibility for repairing a rift in ties that prompted China earlier to suspend exchanges with the US military in anger over Washington's US$6.4 billion arms sale to Taiwan and turn down a proposed visit by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
"We hope the US side prudently handles arms sales to Taiwan and other sensitive issues," Geng said.
He also said that China's defense expenditure has always been maintained at a reasonable and appropriate level.
China's annual defense expenditure has been around 1.4 percent of its GDP in recent years while the share of some major world powers is between 2 and 4 percent, he said.
"We have always coordinated the national defense building with the country's economic development," Geng said.
He said China has and always will take the road of peaceful development and pursue a purely defensive national defense policy.
"The fundamental task of the Chinese military is to protect the nation's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity," he said.
Currently, China's security environment is generally stable, but there are still some threats, he said.
Over the past few weeks, Chinese media have reported on a series of military exercises, in the South China Sea as well as in waters off China's east coast.
Geng said people should not read too much into the Chinese drills, which he said were no different from the kind of exercises carried out by other countries.
"In recent years, the Chinese military has increased its reporting on exercises, mainly to show that the military is even more open and transparent," Geng told the reporters.
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