China says U.S. criticism over South China Sea is slander

BEIJING, July 22 (Reuters) - Remarks by U.S. officials on
China's role in the South China Sea are slanderous, its foreign
ministry said on Monday, after the United States voiced concern
over reports of Chinese interference with oil and gas activities
in the disputed waters.
China's claims in the South China Sea, through which about
$5 trillion in shipborne trade passes each year, are contested,
all or in part, by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and
Vietnam.
On Saturday, the U.S. State Department said China's repeated
provocative actions aimed at the offshore oil and gas
development of other claimant states threatened regional energy
security and undermined the free and open Indo-Pacific energy
market.
U.S. President Donald Trump's hawkish national security
adviser John Bolton also said on Twitter that China's coercive
behaviour towards its Southeast Asian neighbours was
counterproductive and threatened regional peace and stability,
echoing earlier comments by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said
such comments by Bolton and Pompeo were baseless, adding that
the United States and other "external forces" were stirring up
trouble in the South China Sea.
"This is slander against Chinese and Southeast Asian
countries' efforts to uphold peace and stability in the South
China Sea and properly manage differences," Geng told a news
briefing on Monday. "Countries and people in the region will not
believe their words."
He added, "We urge the United States to stop such
irresponsible behaviour and respect the efforts of China and
ASEAN countries to resolve differences through dialogue and work
for peace and stability in the South China Sea."
U.S.-based think tanks have reported that Chinese and
Vietnamese vessels have engaged in a standoff for several weeks
near an oil block in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone.
Vietnam, which for years has been embroiled in a dispute
with China over the potentially energy-rich region, on Friday
accused a Chinese oil survey vessel and its escorts of violating
its sovereignty and demanded that China remove the ships from
Vietnamese waters.
The busy waterway of the South China Sea is one of a growing
number of flashpoints in the U.S.-China relationship.
The two countries have repeatedly traded barbs over what
Washington calls Beijing's militarisation of the waters by
building military installations on artificial islands and reefs.
China says the United States is to blame for tension by
repeatedly sending warships close to Chinese-held islands, and
that China's sovereignty in the area is irrefutable.
ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, groups
Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.