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.
