China says missile deployment reports are creations of some Western media
BEIJING - Reports that China has deployed an advanced surface-to-air missile system to one of the disputed islands it controls in the South China Sea have been created by certain Western media, the country's foreign minister said on Wednesday.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi also told reporters he hoped Western media would pay more attention to the lighthouses China is building in the region. Taiwan and U.S. officials told Reuters and other media outlets on Wednesday that China had deployed the missile system.
At the same news conference, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who is visiting China, urged restraint in the region and called on all sides to settle disputes peacefully, adding that Australia does not take sides on South China Sea claims.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year, and has been building runways and other infrastructure on artificial islands to bolster its claims.
A US news report said late Tuesday that China has deployed two batteries of sophisticated surface-to-air missile launchers to a disputed island in the South China Sea.
Satellite imagery from Image Sat International showed two batteries of eight missile launchers on Woody Island, part of the contested Paracel Islands.
"Interested parties should work collaboratively to maintain peace andstability in the South China Sea region," said Taiwan Defence Ministry spokesman Major General David Lo.
"(They should) avoid any unilateral move that would increase tensions," Lo added.
A US official confirmed that the imagery showed the HQ-9 air defense system, which has a range of around 200 kilometres, Fox News reported.
The missiles appeared to have been placed on a beach some time between February 3 and February 14, the report said.
The news of the missile deployment came as US President Barack Obama met with Southeast Asian leaders in California, where they called for "maritime security" and urged "non-militarisation and self-restraint" by countries in the region.
Beijing claims nearly all of the South China Sea, including small islands that are hundreds of kilometres from its southern coast.
Four countries in Southeast Asia have unresolved territorial disputes with China over the South China Sea, which has important shipping lanes and potential oil and other natural resources.
In January, a US warship sailed into the area of the sea containing the Paracel Islands group, and within 12 nautical miles of Zhongjian Island, or Triton Island in English.
A Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman called the move at the time "a delibrate provocation."
