China on Monday lambasted Japan following a recent announcement that Tokyo will step up its presence in the South China Sea. Beijing said such actions, in the pretense of upholding the interests of the international community, would only lead to further confusion in the disputed region.

"Let's have a look at the results of Japan's throwing things into disorder over this same time period ... trying to confuse the South China Sea situation under the pretence of acting for the international community," China's foreign ministry's spokesman Lu Kang told reporters at a press briefing,

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Japan's new defense minister Tomomi Inada recently announced that Japanese forces would increase their presence in the South China Sea by participating in freedom of navigation patrols with the US and multilateral military exercises with regional navies.

Coastal states

Inada told the media during her first visit to Washington last week that Japan will also help to build the military capacities of coastal nations in the strategic waterway.

The bilateral ties between China and Japan have long been strained by disputes over their wartime history and territorial spats in the East China Sea.

China is laying claim to the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu Islands in China) in the East China Sea. China has conducted patrols near the area, angering Tokyo.

Tokyo has repeatedly lodged diplomatic protests with the Chinese consulate over Beijing's incursions into Japan's waters.

Japanese ships

In response to Tokyo's latest decision, Beijing warned that Chinese military forces would target Japanese ships conducting joint patrols with the US in the disputed South China Sea.

Beijing has repeatedly denounced the US' and Japan's intervention in the South China Sea row as both nations are not parties to the ongoing dispute.

Lu said China and the claimant-countries in the region have agreed to settle their disputes through bilateral talks.

Consensus

He said that Beijing and Southeast Asian nations have also reached a consensus to maintain peace and security in the disputed region.

"China is resolute in its determination to protect its sovereignty and maritime interests," Lu said.

China has warned that if the US-led freedom of navigation patrols involve several countries and destabilizes the region, Beijing would have no choice but to declare a South China Sea air defense identification zone (ADIZ).

"By then, China will have a system of a cluster of militarized islands and air defense identification zones to counter US and Japanese warships, which could become China's strategic progress," the military-backed Global Times stated. 

TagsSouth China Sea, US-Japan joint patrols, Military exercises, Defense Minister Tomoni Inada, China-Japan relations, Japan, china