China's Foreign Ministry has downplayed comments by the state media that Beijing should prepare for "military confrontation" over the disputed South China Sea.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei on Tuesday said that China would work with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to safeguard the peace and stability of the South China Sea.

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Hong's remarks comes a day after the state-owned Global Times newspaper warned about potential military confrontation over disputed territories in the South China Sea and suggested that Beijing must be ready for war.

"China hopes disputes can be resolved by talks, it must be prepared for any military confrontation," the newspaper said in its editorial. "Even though China cannot keep up with the US militarily in the short-term, it should be able to let the US pay a cost it cannot stand if it intervenes in the South China Sea dispute by force," it further added.

State-owned news agency Xinhua in another editorial on Tuesday said that the United States should change its strategy aimed at rebalancing the Asia Pacific.

China is carrying out military drills around Paracel Islands in the disputed South China Sea despite opposition from its neighbors. The military exercises started days after the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration declared that it would issue a final ruling on the South China Sea case on July 12.

The Philippines government in questioning Beijing' claim to the South China Sea in its case at the international tribunal. China, on the other hand, has said it does not recognize the jurisdiction of the tribunal and continues to maintain that it has ''sovereignty" over the disputed region. 

TagsSouth China Sea, State Media, china, Beijing, Foreign Ministry