South China Sea | Beijing expresses concern over ASEAN’s stance

China says it is “severely concerned” over the statement from a Southeast Asian nations’ meeting that criticized Beijing’s building of islands in the disputed South China Sea.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters yesterday that the reclamation and construction work being carried out on rocks and reefs controlled by China was entirely legal and shouldn’t be questioned.
He said China firmly opposed attempts by countries he didn’t identify to undermine Beijing’s ties with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
China is firmly opposed to the actions of an “individual country” kidnapping ASEAN and undermining the China-ASEAN friendship out of its private ends, Hong said.
The chairman’s statement issued at the ASEAN annual summit said China’s work to build islands had eroded trust and confidence and may undermine stability.
The ASEAN statement also urged intensified consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) to ensure the expeditious establishment of an effective COC.
China and five others claim all or part of the sea and its island groups.
Hong said China and the ASEAN countries are actively pushing forward the consultations on the COC so as to establish the COC based on consensus at an early date.