BEIJING, Aug. 28 -- “China urges the US to immediately stop provocations, strictly manage and control its maritime and air military operations, strictly restrain the behaviors of its front-line naval and air forces, so as to avoid any contingency,” said Senior Colonel Li Huamin, spokesperson for the Southern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), in a written statement on Friday.
Snr. Col. Li said that a US guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin trespassed into the Chinese territorial waters off the Xisha Islands without permission on August 27. In response, the PLA Southern Theater Command organized its naval and air forces to conduct whole-process monitoring and verification on the US warship and warned it away.
Li pointed out that in disregard of the rules of international law, the US has repeatedly provoked troubles in the South China Sea and asserted its navigation hegemony in the name of "freedom of navigation" , which has seriously undermined China's sovereignty and security interests, as well as the international navigation order in the South China Sea.
Li stressed that China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and the adjacent waters, adding that the troops of the PLA Southern Theater Command will always stay on high alert and resolutely safeguard China’s sovereignty and security and uphold peace and stability in the South China Sea.
