Japan and China are involved in a separate territorial dispute in the East China Sea and Beijing has warned Tokyo against meddling in the South China Sea dispute. "We hope that other countries don't use this opportunity to threaten China, and hope that other countries can work hard with China, meet us halfway, and maintain the South China Sea's peace and stability and not turn the South China Sea in a source of war." Beijing called the Philippines' claims of sovereignty in the South China Sea "baseless" and an "act of bad faith". "On whether China will set up an air defense zone over the South China Sea, what we have to make clear first is that China has the right to... Pivot pressureBeijing's ambassador to the United States earlier blamed the rise in tension in the region on the United States' "pivot" toward Asia in the past few years.

Source: Thanhnien News July 13, 2016 13:07 UTC