Despite China's warnings, the United States would continue to guarantee the rights and the lawful use of the disputed waters and airspace of the South China Sea by all nations through its freedom of navigation operations, a top US Navy official said on Wednesday.

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During a visit to a Chinese naval base, US Chief of Naval Operations John Richardson said US military forces would continue to sail and fly over the disputed sea as long as it does not violate international law.

"The US military forces uphold the importance of lawful and safe operations in the South China Sea, and elsewhere professional navies operate," Richardson told Yuan Yubai, commander of the Chinese North Sea Fleet, during a meeting.

International law

Richardson said US forces would continue protecting waters and airspace worldwide wherever international law allows, including in the South China Sea.

Richardson's statement was issued a week after a Hague-based arbitral court ruled that China has no legal basis for its "historic rights" claim to almost the entirety of the South China Sea.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ruled that China's territorial claims violate the sovereign rights of the Philippines to explore its exclusive economic zone and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Null and void

It also said that there are no legal grounds for China's nine-dash line on which Beijing bases its claims to the disputed maritime territory.

China has refused to recognize the ruling of the court, dismissing it as 'null and void' and a 'piece of waste paper.'

A Chinese admiral has warned the US and foreign navies to stay out of the disputed sea saying military patrols in the guise of freedom of navigation operations could end in "disaster."

China's state-run news agency, Xinhua, said on Wednesday that non-regional countries should stay out of the South China Sea or be prepared to face possible military confrontation.

Unsafe maneuvers

Over the past months, the US has complained about the "unsafe maneuvers: that Chinese planes and ships have been conducting in the South China Sea. shadowing US ships and planes.

Chinese maritime officials said what US forces have been conducting military freedom of navigation patrols, which would only result in heightened tensions in the South China Sea region.

The US Navy has been conducting patrols near Chinese-controlled islands in the disputed strategic waterway, angering China as the latter continued to build artificial islands.

Lawful operations

"The U.S. Navy will continue to conduct routine and lawful operations around the world, including in the South China Sea, in order to protect the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of sea and airspace guaranteed to all. This will not change," Richardson emphasized.

Besides China, several Southeast Asian nations are laying claim to islands and reefs in the South China Sea where $5 trillion worth of trade passes through each year.

The resource-rich strategic waterway is being claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

TagsUS forces, People's Liberation Army Navy, china