China’s Foreign Ministry is “extremely dissatisfied” with G7 statement on the South China Sea

Almaty. May 27. Silkroadnews – China is “extremely dissatisfied” with a statement by G7 leaders on the situation in the South China Sea, Hua Chunying, spokeswoman of China’s Foreign Ministry, said at the regular news conference, TASS reports.

“Japan make efforts to use the G7 summit to aggravate disputes in the South China Sea. It does not serve the stability in the region. It is also not what the G7 shall be engaged in as a platform to manage the economy. We are extremely dissatisfied with this,” the spokeswoman said.

As stated in the text published on the G7 summit declaration, its leaders are concerned with the situation in the East China and South China seas and call for the settlement of disputes through the peaceful means in accordance with international law.

According to the publication, Beijing has a decades lasting dispute with several countries of the region over the territorial jurisdiction of a number of islands in the South China Sea, where significant hydrocarbon reserves were discovered. The point in case is particularly about the Xisha archipelago (Paracel Islands), the islands of Nansha (Spratly) and Huangyan (Scarborough Reef). To a greater or lesser degree, the dispute involves Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Since the end of 2013 China has also been carrying large-scale hydraulic engineering and construction works to expand and develop the territory it controls, causing suspicion and criticism from the countries of the Pacific region. According to the experts, China strives to secure control over the region adjacent to the strategically important Malacca Straits, through which about 60% of China’s trade and 80% of Chinese imports of hydrocarbons are made.