Chinese foreign minister to visit U.S.
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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will pay an official visit to the United States from Tuesday to Thursday, at the invitation of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Monday.

"We hope that China and the U.S. will arrange high-level exchanges and dialogues for 2016, discuss practical cooperation and the handling of sensitive issues to promote the sustainable, healthy and stable growth of bilateral relations through the visit," Hua said at a regular news briefing.

Responding to looming UN sanctions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for missile launches, Hua said "China and the U.S. are expected to exchange views on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue during Wang's visit," adding that the two sides have been in communication over the issue recently.

The UN Security Council is discussing sanctions against the DPRK over its recent nuclear test and satellite launch using ballistic missile technology.

China supports the UN Security Council adopting a new and strong resolution against the DPRK while urging relevant parties to avoid actions that could escalate tensions, Hua said.

She renewed the call for dialogue and promoting the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and a truce-to-peace mechanism in parallel.

When asked about the message that China will send to the U.S. on the South China Sea issue, Hua said the U.S. should honor its commitment of taking no position on competing territorial claims and stop playing up the issue or creating tension.

Hua pointed out that the U.S. is not a party involved in the South China Sea dispute and the South China Sea issue is not, and should not become, a problem between China and the U.S..

She called on the U.S. to play a constructive role on the issue as maintaining peace and stability on the sea serves the common interest of China and U.S. as well as all parties concerned.

Hua criticised the U.S. for stirring hype over the "militarization" of the South China Sea. "The U.S. side is misusing the concept. The deployment of defense facilities on China's own territory is no different from what U.S. does in Hawaii."

The U.S., which has sent military vessels and planes to areas in the South China Sea to conduct close-in reconnaissance, is the source of tension and militarization of the South China Sea, Hua said.

China's construction on its own islands in the South China Sea is for civilian purposes and providing better international public goods. The deployment of limited defence measures is granted by international law to sovereign states, and has nothing to do with "militarization", according to Hua.

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China accuses U.S. of militarizing South China Sea

BEIJING, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- China said on Friday that it does not intend to pursue militarization of the Nansha Islands in the South China Sea and criticized U.S. air and naval patrols in the region.

China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, adding "China is serious about its commitment not to pursue militarization of the Nansha Islands."Full Story

Commentary: Washington's destabilizing role in South China Sea

BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- After failing to get its way at the first U.S.-ASEAN summit in California, Washington appears ready to grasp at anything that could be used against China.

And the media hype over China's deployment of a surface-to-air missile system in Yongxing Island, part of the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, just provided Washington a much-needed excuse to once again criticize Beijing for its alleged role in "militarizing" the region. Full Story

Commentary: U.S. has hard time justifying criticism of China's actions in South China Sea

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government is recently struggling hard to justify its criticism of China's defensive moves in the South China Sea, because it is clear that it is the United States, not China, that is the real source of militarization of the region.

China's deployment of a surface-to-air missile system on the Xisha Islands, an inherent part of China's territory, is defensive in nature and falls within its sovereign rights and international law.

In an attempt to increase pressure on China, the U.S. government keeps slinging mud at China, calling the deployment a move to "militarize" the region.

Over the past few days, U.S. State Department spokesmen have been hyping up accusations against China over the missile system deployment, alleging that China's move of "militarization" will lead to further tensions in the region and is "counterproductive" to the peaceful resolution of the maritime disputes there.

Asked to clarify if the recent U.S. action of sending warships and fighter jets into territorial waters of Chinese islands in the South China Sea constituted "militarization" of the region, the spokesmen insisted that the U.S. was doing that to exert the so-called "freedom of navigation" rights.

Obviously, their defenses of the provocative U.S. actions against China are pale and invalid. It is a pure fallacy that Washington thinks one country, which is repeatedly threatened by the U.S. military provocations, should not take any defensive measures to protect its own rights.

Turning a deaf ear to China's calls for honoring its promise not to take sides on the maritime disputes, the U.S. has since last October sent warships and military jets to deliberately violate China's territorial waters in the South China Sea.

Apparently, Washington is once again adopting double standards over the issue.

China is not the first or only party in the disputes which has taken steps to build infrastructure and defense facilities on the islands.

However, while justifying any provocative acts by its ally such as the Philippines, or partner countries, the U.S. always points a finger at China for being the bully or villain.

The deployment of defense facilities on Yongxing Island is China's exercise of sovereignty as granted by international law to sovereign states and has been going on for decades. It is not whatsoever related to "militarization."

Fearing that China's rising power and influence will threaten its hegemony in the Asian-Pacific region, Washington in the past seven years has been pushing forward its "Asian Rebalance" strategy, aiming to contain China economically, diplomatically and militarily.

Most notably, the U.S. prioritizes the military perspective of this strategy by shifting most of its naval power and most advanced equipment to the region, deploying more troops and providing military aid to some claimants to bolster their capabilities to confront China.

Resorting to fear-mongering by preaching the so-called China Threat over the maritime disputes, Washington plots to forge a coalition to encircle China and force the Asian country to dance to its tune. But this is doomed to failure, as China has proven to be a peacemaker instead of a troublemaker in its long history.

China, though, has agreed on the U.S. stance that the maritime disputes in the South China Sea should be resolved peacefully through diplomacy in accordance with international laws.

But Washington needs to be truly impartial on the disputes, and needs to stop defaming China or escalating tensions in the region to fish benefits from the troubled waters.

Related:

Commentary: Washington's destabilizing role in South China Sea

BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- After failing to get its way at the first U.S.-ASEAN summit in California, Washington appears ready to grasp at anything that could be used against China.

And the media hype over China's deployment of a surface-to-air missile system in Yongxing Island, part of the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, just provided Washington a much-needed excuse to once again criticize Beijing for its alleged role in "militarizing" the region. Full Story

China's deployment of limited defense facilities not related to militarization in South China Sea

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday said deploying limited and necessary national defense facilities on China's own territory has nothing to do with militarization in the South China Sea.

Wang made the remarks at a joint press briefing after his talks with visiting Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. Wang called on media to pay more attention to the lighthouses China has completed in the region and the emergency facilities for weather forecasting and rescue that are under construction.

As the biggest coastal state in the South China Sea, China is providing these public goods to the international community, Wang said.

He noted deploying limited and necessary national defense facilities on its own territory is China's exercise of self-preservation and defense, a right granted by international law to sovereign states.

According to Wang, what China has done is blameless and has nothing to do with militarization in the South China Sea.

Wang said demilitarization in the South China Sea is in accordance with the interests of all parties, but calls for demilitarization should not be aimed at only one country or show double standards.

Demilitarization in the South China Sea requires joint efforts from both countries in and outside the region, Wang said.

As the biggest coastal state in the South China Sea, China is providing these public goods to the international community, Wang said.

Author： 　　　Source：xinhua　　　 Editor：Yang Fan