China is not afraid of US sanctions because of the situation in the South China Sea, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a briefing on Wednesday.
Earlier, US Assistant Secretary of State David Stillwell said that Washington does not exclude the possibility of imposing new sanctions against China due to the situation in the South China Sea.
“With regard to the issue of the South China Sea, China will continue to protect its security, sovereignty, legal rights and interests, as well as our friendly cooperation with regional countries”, – the diplomat said.
According to her, “China hopes that the United States will not go further along the wrong path, but will act as a responsible large country.”
“We are not afraid of sanctions”, – said Hua Chunying.
For decades, China has been arguing with several countries in the Asia-Pacific region over the territorial affiliation of several islands in the South China Sea, on the shelf of which significant hydrocarbon reserves have been discovered. We are talking primarily about the Sisha archipelago (Paracel Islands), the Nansha (Spratly) and Huangyan (Scarborough Reef) islands. Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines are involved in this debate to one degree or another. The situation in the region is often complicated by the passage of US warships here, which, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, violate international law and undermine China’s sovereignty and security. Despite protests from Beijing, official Washington said the United States would sail wherever international law permits.