China has called on the United States to respect its affairs and not meddle in issues concerning the country, such as the current situation in the South China Sea.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in a phone call to US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday, said the US should respect China's core interests by stopping the arms sale to Taiwan and ending military naval and aerial patrols close to Beijing-controlled islets and reefs in the South China Sea

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Wang told Kerry that the US should respect China's affairs and not meddle in important Chinese concerns which include its territorial claims in the region.

Wang asked Kerry to stop the United States' arms sales to Taiwan and end the America's 'shows of force' in the region such as the military patrolling of the disputed waters near the Chinese-claimed islands.

The Foreign Minister said that if the US is indeed serious about seeking cooperation with China, then it should leave China alone to attend to its concerns.

Wang said the world was becoming a more challenging place and that the situation in the South China Sea was contributing to it in a massive scale.

Last week, President Obama approved the US' arms sale to Taiwan despite strong opposition from China. China has since threatened to impose sanctions on the manufacturers of the weapons sold to Taiwan.

China is upset over what it sees as US military provocations in the disputed maritime territory. China has complained to the US about a recent incident where a B-52 bomber that flew near a Chinese artificial island in the South China Sea.

Reports indicate that the Pentagon is looking at China's complaints although the raging issue centers on the two superpowers disagreeing over China's territorial claims in the region.

China claims 95 percent of all the islands, reefs, and islets in the South China Sea region, dismissing the overlapping claims of Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, Taiwan,Malaysia, and the Philippines.

The hotly contested South China Sea is full of energy-rich resources and more than $5 trillion in maritime trade that passes through the waters every year.

TagsChina-claimed territories, US military provocations, B-52 bomber, John Kerry, US Secretary of State John Kerry, Respect China's affairs, US Arms sale to Taiwan