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1st Ld-Writethru: China not to be accused of militarizing South China Sea

Xinhua, March 8, 2016 Adjust font size:

There are other countries than China to be accused of militarizing the South China Sea, said Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday.

Building defense facilities on its own islands and reefs, China is actually exercising the rights of self-preservation and self-defense, said Wang at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress.

China was not the first country that deployed weapons on the Nansha Islands nor the country that has deployed the most weapons, not even the country that has conducted the most frequent military activities, he said.

"People talk a lot about militarization. I think China can not be accused of militarization. The label is more suited to some other countries," he said.

Wang reiterated that the Nansha Islands have been China's inherent territory and every Chinese has the obligation to defend them.

"China has not and will not have new territorial claims," he said. Endi