China's Defense Ministry: Philippine Territory Does Not Include Huangyan Dao or the Nansha Islands; China Will Take Resolute Action Against Moves That Stir Up Trouble in the South China Sea
Senior Colonel Chen Xi, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, released a statement on recent military-related issues on the afternoon of October 16. A reporter asked about reports that the Philippine side had recently carried out repeated provocations near Huangyan Dao and Ren'ai Jiao and said it would not allow the Chinese side to dictate terms on Philippine "territory," and that the Philippine military said it had observed more than a hundred Chinese naval and Coast Guard vessels maintaining a regular presence in September in waters near Zhongye Dao and Xianbin Jiao, which it believed was intended to shake the Philippines' resolve to safeguard its rights and interests.
Chen said China has indisputable sovereignty over Huangyan Dao and the Nansha Islands, including Zhongye Dao, Xianbin Jiao and Ren'ai Jiao, and their adjacent waters, and holds sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the relevant waters. The Philippines' territory does not include those islands and reefs at all, and it is in no position to talk about "safeguarding its rights and interests." The necessary measures taken by China in accordance with laws and regulations to safeguard its sovereignty and rights are legitimate, justified, professional and restrained, he said.
Chen said that for some time the Philippine side, disregarding the common interests of regional countries, has courted external forces to stir up trouble, repeatedly infringed and provoked in the South China Sea, and distorted facts and spread false narratives, making it a saboteur of peace and a source of instability in the South China Sea. China will, with firm determination and effective action, deter any move that stirs up trouble in the South China Sea and safeguard regional peace and stability. (GSM, based on the Ministry of National Defense's October 16 release.)
(Pictured: the Ministry of National Defense building in Beijing, file photo.)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: U.S. Secretary of Defense · Public domain
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