China firmly opposes false narratives on maritime issues: spokesperon

BEIJING, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- China strongly deplores and firmly opposes certain countries peddling false narratives on maritime issues and making groundless accusations against China, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said here on Thursday.

It's reported that defense ministers of the Philippines, Australia, Japan and the United States met together on November 3 on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus and issued a joint readout on maritime issues.

Noting the situation in the East China Sea and the South China Sea is generally stable at present, spokesperson Mao Ning told a daily press briefing that relevant sides need to respect the efforts of regional countries to handle maritime issues properly through dialogue and consultation and maintain peace and stability, and stop using maritime issues to sow discord and heighten tensions.

"The 'South China Sea arbitration' is nothing but a political farce masqueraded as a legal process and aimed at destabilizing the South China Sea for selfish gains. The so-called 'award' is illegal, null and void, and is not binding," Mao said, pointing out that China has never accepted or recognized it from the outset.

"The Asia-Pacific is a pacesetter of cooperation and development, not a chessboard for geopolitical competition," Mao said, noting that group politics and bloc confrontation will not bring peace and security, and is not conducive to the stability in the Asia-Pacific and the world as a whole. ■