BEIJING: (APP) China warned the United States Saturday not to destabilise East Asia after Donald Trump's new defence secretary said an island chain claimed by both Tokyo and Beijing was covered by a US-Japan military accord.
The Senkaku islands, known in China as the Diaoyus, sit in rich fishing grounds.
"The Diaoyu Island and its adjacent islets have been an inherent part of Chinese territory since ancient times, which is a unchangeable historical fact," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said, according to the official news agency Xinhua.
"We urge the US side to take a responsible attitude, stop making wrong remarks... and avoid making the issue more complicated and bringing instability to the regional situation".