China has dismissed calls by the US and the Philippines to freeze its activities in disputed areas of the South China Sea saying no other country can dictate what it should do, ahead of a key summit overshadowed by rising tension in the region.
"What China will do, or won't do, is determined by the Chinese government. No other people can change the stance of the Chinese government," said Yi Xianliang, deputy head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Boundary and Ocean Affairs Departments.
The US has called for a voluntary freeze on actions that would escalate tension in the region.
Yi termed the suggestions by the US impractical. "On what capacity can Washington raise such a suggestion?"
"The suggestion is simply not constructive and cannot be implemented." Disputes should be resolved by nations with claims to the waters, he said.
The remarks, made at a forum organised by All-China Journalists Association, came as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is set to hold a meeting in Myanmar this week, Hong-Kong based South China Morning Post reported.
ASEAN foreign ministers and counterparts from the bloc's main regional trading partners, including China, Japan and South Korea, will hold talks. A regional security dialogue will also be held, with the United States taking part in it.
Philippines' Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario yesterday said Manila had won support from Vietnam, Indonesia and Brunei for an immediate moratorium on activities in the disputed areas of the South China Sea and for implementation of a code of conduct in the region.
China claims 90 per cent of the South China Sea, believed to contain oil and gas deposits. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan also lay claim to parts of the sea.
Tension increased between China and its Southeast Asian neighbours, especially the Philippines and Vietnam, as China has been asserting its maritime claims in the region.
In May, a series of deadly anti-China riots swept Vietnam after Beijing deployed an oil rig in contested waters in the South China Sea.
China reportedly is planning to expand its biggest installation in the Spratly Islands, on the disputed Fiery Cross Reef, into an artificial island, complete with an airstrip and port.
Yi said other countries with claims in the South China Sea had also carried out reclamation work and built facilities on disputed islands, including a kindergarten.
"China has the right to build facilities on Chinese territory," he said.
