Tue, March 10, 2009
BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday said that a U.S. navy vessel, which conducted activities in China's special economic zone in the South China Sea, violated the international and Chinese law.
"China has lodged a solemn representation to the United States as the USNS Impeccable conducted activities in China's special economic zone in the South China Sea without China's permission," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told a regular news briefing.
"We demand that the United States put an immediate stop to related activities and take effective measures to prevent similar acts from happening," Ma said.
The Pentagon accused that Chinese ships, including a naval vessel, harassed the USNS Impeccable in international waters on Sunday.
Ma said "the U.S. claims are gravely in contravention of the facts and confuse black and white and they are totally unacceptable to China."
