China made it clear that it will not support the United States' plan to send its fleet near islands in the South China Sea, which is now the subject of controversy between the Asian giant and its neighbors, The Wall Street Journal reported May 13. 

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Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China's Foreign Ministry, was quoted by the publication as saying that they are "severely concerned" about the U.S.'s comments and that it needs to be clarified. 

The spokeswoman also said, without being specific, that "relevant countries" involved in the longstanding territorial disputes should not take any "risky or provocative action." 

WSJ noted that Asian countries that have ongoing and unresolved territorial issues concerning the South China Sea were Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines. 

The publication noted that the Beijing government's "unusually strong comments" are perceived as a reaction to a report from the day before that U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter has ordered an investigation, as to how the world's biggest military force could use its aircrafts and Navy ships to oppose China's claims of man-made islands, which U.S. believes belong to international waters and airspace. 

Hua said that the Beijing government has always promoted the freedom of navigation in the disputed waters but that does not mean that a foreign country's military vessel or aircraft could "willfully enter the territorial waters or airspace of another country." 

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Hua also singled out one of its longest opponents in the Spratlys Islands saga - the Philippines.

"China has made clear on many occasions that it opposes the Philippines' futile and illegal occupation. ...The reality of the situation has again proven the Philippines to be a rule-violator and a troublemaker," Hua said. 

Reuters noted that the Philippine government had recently taken journalists to Thitu Island in the Spratlys group of islands, a move that the Chinese government considered as an endangerment of international law. 

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