Beijing: Dismissing concerns over its infrastructure building in the disputed islands chain, China on Saturday defended the construction of two light houses in the South China Sea saying they will help guide passing vessels and significantly improve navigation safety.
The Huayang and Chigua Lighthouses are constructed on the Huayang Reef of Nansha Islands, also known as Spratly Islands, a chain of barren reefs and atolls that straddle one of the world's busiest sea-lanes.
"The lighthouses on Huayang and Chigua reefs of China's Nansha Islands will provide efficient navigational aid and route guidance services and significantly improve navigation safety for passing vessels in the South China Sea," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.
"As an important international shipping and fishing region, the South China Sea waters are busy and China will continue to construct other civilian and public facilities to better serve coastal nations in the South China Sea," she said, defending the infrastructure building in the disputed island chain.
Believed to be sitting atop large deposits of oil and natural gas, the island chain is also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.
They have expressed concerns that China's infrastructure building and land reclamation projects in the disputed island chain, which could be used as military bases as well, could threaten freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. China claims sovereignty over the entire South China Sea.
Yesterday Hua told a media briefing that China will not allow violation of its territorial waters in the South China Sea in name of freedom of navigation.
"We will never allow any country to violate China's territorial waters and airspace in the Spratly Islands, in the name of protecting freedom of navigation and overflight," she was quoted as saying by the official media.
"We urge the related parties not to take any provocative actions, and genuinely take a responsible stance on regional peace and stability," Hua has said responding to a remark by a US defence official that Washington is considering to send ships within the next two weeks to waters inside the 12-nautical-mile zones in the Spratly chain.
