CHINA today told its worried neighbours it would not resort to the use of force in the tense South China Sea but flatly asserted its right to the whole disputed sea and its islands and told the US not to interfere.
Beijing criticised Washington over a US senator's call for multilateral negotiations to resolve festering disputes in the South China Sea, saying only those countries with territorial claims in the vast resource-rich waters should get involved in such discussions.
US Senator Jim Webb had said yesterday that Washington needed to condemn China's use of force and facilitate talks on the dispute.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China asserted its claim to the entire sea and its island groups but would not use force to resolve disputes or impede navigation. He also condemned actions that expand and complicate the dispute.
``We will not resort to the use of force or the threat of force,'' Mr Hong Lei said, following complaints from Vietnam and the Philippines over recent days of Chinese harassment at sea.
`We hope relevant countries will do more for peace and stability in the region.''
Vietnam on Monday staged live-fire exercises following recent confrontations at sea with China which reignited a long-standing dispute over the sovereignty of two potentially oil-rich archipelagos, the Paracels and Spratlys.
Mr Hong insisted Vietnam was to blame for the recent flare-up, sparked by a confrontation between Chinese surveillance vessels and a Vietnamese oil survey ship.
``Some country took unilateral actions to impair China's sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and released groundless and irresponsible remarks with the attempt to expand and complicate the issue of the South China Seas,'' he said, in a thinly-veiled reference to Hanoi. ``This is where the problem lies.''
The Australian
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