China firmly against US's unwarranted accusations against China at East Asia Summit: spokesperson

BEIJING - China is firmly against the United States' unwarranted accusations against China at the East Asia Summit and has made serious demarches to the US side, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.

The spokesperson made the remark in response to accusations made by the US delegate at China on Taiwan and the South China Sea at the East Asia Summit on Thursday.

The spokesperson emphasized that the Taiwan question is purely China's internal affair which brooks no foreign interference, pointing out that the biggest threat to peace in the Taiwan Strait stems from separatist activities for "Taiwan independence" and the foreign connivance and support they receive.

To effectively uphold cross-Strait peace and stability, it is absolutely necessary to firmly oppose "Taiwan independence", the spokesperson added.

"We urge the United States to earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, stop using the Taiwan question to interfere in China's internal affairs and take concrete actions to uphold cross-Strait peace and stability, not otherwise," said the spokesperson.

The spokesperson said that certain non-regional country has sought to stir up trouble, incite confrontation and jeopardize regional peace and stability in the South China Sea, and China has always opposed that.

China and ASEAN countries are making active efforts to advance the consultations on a code of conduct in the South China Sea, and countries outside the region need to respect the efforts made by regional countries to develop rules and uphold peace and stability in the South China Sea, said the spokesperson.

What happened at this East Asia Summit shows that the overwhelming majority of countries believe in strengthening cooperation through constructive dialogue and friendly consultation to jointly foster a regional epicentrum of growth, the spokesperson said, adding that the United States deliberately deviated from the theme of the meeting to sour the atmosphere for cooperation.

"This runs counter to the wish of the people in the region. It reveals the actual role of the United States as a disruptor and saboteur of East Asian cooperation and regional stability. No one echoed the United States' false accusations at the summit anyway. What the United States has done will only make itself look bad and backfire on itself," the spokesperson said.