Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun

China urges the US to stop playing up tensions and instigating confrontation in the South China Sea, stop citing the illegal and invalid "award," and stop using maritime issues as a pretext to smear China, Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on Friday. 

Guo made the remarks when responding to a media inquiry about the US State Department spokesperson's press statement on August 8, which claimed that the US rejects China's attempts to set up the national nature reserve at Huangyan Dao and deny Filipino fishermen access to their "traditional fishing ground," as reflected in the so-called 2016 Arbitral Award.

Guo pointed out that Huangyan Dao has always been China's territory, and it is within China's sovereign rights to establish and administer the Huangyan Dao national nature reserve. 

"The US is in no position to point fingers, and the 'South China Sea arbitral award,' which is illegal, null and void, provides no solid ground for the US to speak for the Philippines," the spokesperson stated. 

Global Times