China warned foreign navies, specifically the United States', on Monday against conducting freedom of navigation operations in the disputed South China Sea saying such patrols could end in "disaster."

The warning comes following the Permanent Court of Arbitration's ruling dismissing China's territorial claims in the disputed sea.

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Admiral Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), said the US' freedom of navigation concept was fake and has been played up in the media by Washington and other Western countries.

Sun said, strictly speaking, the freedom of navigation principle has not affected any country and has even benefitted China over the years.

Tensions

He said, however, that the military freedom of navigation patrols by the US and other Western countries in the South China Sea has heightened tensions in the region.

"China consistently opposes so-called military freedom of navigation, which brings with it a military threat and which challenges and disrespects the international law of the sea," Sun said.

The admiral said these military freedom of navigation patrols could seriously damage the legitimate freedom of navigation principle, which could end in 'disaster.'

Disaster

"This kind of military freedom of navigation is damaging to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, and it could even play out in a disastrous way," he stressed without elaborating.

Despite Beijing's protests against the US' freedom of navigation patrols in the South China Sea region, Washington has said that it reserves the right to patrol in the disputed sea.

The United States has been conducting freedom of navigation patrols near islands and reefs controlled by China in the South China Sea.

"When has freedom of navigation in the South China Sea ever been affected? It has not, whether in the past or now, and in the future there won't be a problem as long as nobody plays tricks," he said.

Historic rights

The Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled last week that there is no legal basis for China's claim of historical rights to almost the entirety of the South China Sea.

The court said China's nine-dash line under which it invokes its claims runs counter to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and violates the Philippines' sovereignty.

China has rejected the ruling, dismissing it as "null and void" and a "complete farce."

Military Drills

Meanwhile, China announced on Monday that it would conduct routine military drills in some parts of the South China Sea this week.

Beijing's maritime agency said Chinese military forces would start military exercises in the southeastern portion of Hainan province, far from the disputed islands and reefs in the sea.

The announcement came less than a week after the PCA handed down its territorial ruling on the case filed by the Philippines against China in 2013. 

TagsFreedom of Navigation, Admiral Sun Jianguo, South China Sea, United States, china