China Government has struck back at the United States criticism that it restricts navigation and overflights in the South China Sea amid a festering marine territorial dispute with some of its neighbors, reports Reuters.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims.
Last week, US Secretary of State John Kerry told a meeting of regional leaders in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that China's construction of facilities on man-made islands for "military purposes" was raising tension and risked "militarization" by other nations in the region, says Sputnik.
Kerry also criticized "restrictions" put in place in recent months by China, saying the United States would not accept any such restrictions on freedom of navigation and overflights.
Freedom of overflights and navigation doesn't mean allowing foreign warships and military jets to violate other countries' sovereignty and security, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement to Reuters on Monday.
China sees freedom of navigation in the region as key because it is an important conduit for trade and natural resources, the ministry said.
China has repeatedly warned Philippine military aircraft away from the artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea, Philippine military officials have said.