China asserts position on defense cooperation
China DailyChina's Ministry of National Defense spokesman Wu Qian. China's Ministry of National Defense spokesman Wu Qian asserted on Friday that the nation's activities in the South China Sea are justified, lawful and beyond reproach. Wu highlighted that certain non-regional countries frequently dispatch military vessels and aircraft to the South China Sea with the intention to "flex muscle", forming alliances to create "small cliques" against China, and even employing threats and coercion under the guise of a so-called mutual defense treaty. Wu emphasized that the South China Sea serves as a shared home for countries in the region. On the one hand, it has sought external forces to interfere in the South China Sea issue and intruded into China's Nansha Islands.