BEIJING, December 14. /TASS/. The United States should stop meddling in the issue of the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as the PRC will resolutely defend its sovereignty, Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said.
"According to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and Chinese domestic law, the Taiwan Strait is China's internal waters, territorial sea, adjacent and exclusive economic zone. The so-called international waters do not exist at all, there is no such wording in the international law of the sea," his statement, published on the defense department's WeChat page, said. "The United States calls the Taiwan Strait 'international waters' and uses this as a pretext to manipulate this issue to threaten China's sovereignty and security," the statement said.
According to the Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman, the US "should in no way try to challenge China's firm will to defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity." "The Chinese side insists once again that the US should be careful in statements and actions concerning the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, stop provocations, and take tangible steps in realizing the important consensus that has been reached between the two presidents," Zhang Xiaogang added.
On December 4, the USS Gabrielle Giffords entered the waters near the Ayungin Shoal of the disputed Nansha Islands (Spratly). The spokesman for the Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army of China, Tian Junli, called it "a serious violation of China's sovereignty and security."
Despite Beijing's displeasure, the US continued to take provocative actions in the waters it calls "international." According to China, a US Navy anti-submarine aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait on December 6.