China Slams United States For ‘Stirring Troubles’ In South China Sea For ‘Selfish Gains’

China warned U.S. officials to stay away from their “provocative words and deed.” The Asian giant condemned the United States for creating “chaos” in the South China Sea.

China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Thursday that the United States was provoking its Asia Pacific allies against China’s territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea. She said it would not help America’s cause if “the major powerhouse of world economic growth” was “thrown into chaos.”

"A few countries keep stirring up troubles in the South China Sea for (their) own selfish gains and provoking China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, while there are some other people who incite them to do so," Press TV quoted Chunying as saying.

Washington, however, plans to send warships and surveillance aircraft to challenge China’s territorial claims. The Chinese military asked a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon surveillance plane to move off an area above the disputed Spratly islands. U.S. authorities, however, ignored the request.

The U.S. administration does not recognize the Asian superpower’s sovereignty in the region. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday that the United States was going to “fly, sail and operate” wherever international law allowed it to.

Carter said in Hawaii that the United States would like to have a peaceful resolution, Channel News Asia reported. At the same time, he said, there should be a “lasting halt to land reclamation by any claimant.”

According to Carter, China’s construction in the region may militarize it further. Carter added that U.S. authorities were against any militarization of disputed areas.

China has recently increased the speed of constructing man-made islands in the South China Sea. It said that the speed and scale of its construction work in the disputed area were appropriate for its international obligation as a major country.

China claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea, which includes waters near the coasts of Asian countries like Vietnam and the Philippines. Chunying reiterated that it was up to China to decide what it would do. She added that no other country had the right to tell China what to do.