Freedom of navigation 'no right to muddy waters'

Shipping lanes in the South China Sea are among the safest and freest in the world, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday, emphasizing that freedom of navigation "does not give some countries the right to do whatever they want".

"If someone wants to muddy the waters in the South China Sea and to destabilize Asia, China will not agree to it, and I think the majority of countries in the region will not allow that to happen," Wang said at a news conference on the sidelines of the two sessions of the top legislature and political advisory body.

Wang stressed that China's buildup of defense facilities on its own islands and reefs is fully within its international rights and that the country is not militarizing the seas.