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China's top brass says US at root of instability in South China Sea

Wu Qian emphasized that Beijing is committed to resolving disputes in the South China Sea as it sees fit

BEIJING, March 28. /TASS/. Washington's interference in territorial disputes in the South China Sea is the main cause of instability in the region, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said.

"US intervention is the biggest factor of instability in the South China Sea," the spokesman pointed out at a briefing.

According to him, "the United States has no right to interfere at all, and military cooperation between the United States and the Philippines must not infringe on China's territorial sovereignty."

He emphasized that Beijing is committed to resolving disputes in the South China Sea as it sees fit. At the same time, China is ready to resolutely defend its sovereignty, rights and interests, Wu Qian said.

On March 19, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a press conference with Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo in Manila that the United States will continue to fulfill its obligations under the bilateral defense treaty with the Philippines amid the escalating situation in the South China Sea over the territorial dispute between Beijing and Manila.

Escalation in South China Sea

On March 5, the Philippine Coast Guard said that one of its ships was damaged when it collided with a Chinese Coast Guard vessel in the South China Sea off a disputed reef, injuring four people. The China Coast Guard held the Philippines responsible for the incident, stating that the Philippine vessel intentionally collided with the Chinese vessel.

On March 23, the Philippine military said that Chinese coast guard vessels used water cannons against Philippine supply ships near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea. Beijing responded by saying it considers the presence of Philippine ships in the waters of the Second Thomas Shoal (Ayungin Shoal) in the South China Sea a provocation.

For several decades, China has been at odds with a number of countries over who has territorial claims to certain islands in the South China Sea, on the shelf of which significant hydrocarbon reserves have been discovered. These are primarily the Sisha archipelago (Paraselsky Islands), the Nansha (Spratly) and Huangyan (Scarborough Reef) islands, which are contested by Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.

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