China to ‘crush’ foreign encroachment in South China Sea: military official

BEIJING: China will “crush” any foreign incursion into its sovereign territory including in the South China Sea, a senior Beijing military official said on Thursday on the sidelines of a defence forum.

Washington and Beijing have verbally sparred over China´s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, including the South China Sea.

In recent months, Chinese vessels have engaged in a series of high-profile confrontations with Philippine ships in the waters, which Beijing claims almost in their entirety despite an international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

Speaking to a small group of journalists including AFP at the Xiangshan forum, Chinese army Lieutenant General He Lei said: “We hope that the South China Sea will remain a sea of peace.”