On July 12 China's foreign ministry strongly condemned remarks by Japanese
foreign minister Motegi on the 10th anniversary of the "South China Sea
arbitration ruling", saying Japan is not a party to the disputes and has no
standing to challenge China's territorial and maritime claims. Beijing accused
Tokyo of invoking the "interested party" label to justify intervention, cited
Japan's wartime seizure of Chinese South China Sea features, warned against
attempts at "re-militarization", and reiterated it will firmly defend its
territorial sovereignty and maritime rights, saying any attempt to challenge
China or destabilize the South China Sea is doomed to fail.
