Ministry: Beijing won't tolerate territorial breach

China will display zero tolerance for any country violating its territory in the South China Sea, the Foreign Ministry said in response to reports that the US Navy may enter the 12-nautical-mile boundary surrounding reclaimed islands.

"China has always respected and protected all countries' freedom of navigation and overflight based on international law," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chun-ying at a news conference on Friday. "But China will never allow any country to violate, in the name of protecting the freedom of navigation or overflight, our territorial sea and air of the Nansha Islands."

Earlier this week three anonymous US military officials were quoted by Navy Times, a US weekly newspaper, as saying the Pentagon proposed to send a warship, within days, into the territorial limits of the island chain in the South China Sea, though such a move has yet to be approved by the Obama administration.