China's defense minister: neighbors 'stirring trouble'

BEIJING - Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan said on Tuesday, when answering a question about the regional security situation, that there are some people "stirring up trouble" around China.

After bilateral talks, Chang and visiting US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel jointly met with the media. Chang told journalists that he and Hagel discussed the regional situation during their talks.

After the reporter behind the question cited Japan and the Philippines, Chang said that a series of words and deeds by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his government had not only seriously damaged China-Japan relations but also posed a threat to regional peace and tranquility.

The Japanese side not only confused right and wrong on historical issues but also stirred up trouble over the Diaoyu Islands, according to Chang, who stressed that Japan continues to stockpile nuclear materials far exceeding its actual normal needs.

He urged the international community to be on high alert on the increasingly rightist tilt in Japan.

Chang criticized the Philippines for its illegal occupation of some islands and reefs in the South China Sea, saying it is a miscalculation to propose international arbitration on the South China Sea issue under the guise of international law, as the Philippines has done.

China has repeatedly made clear its stance of neither accepting nor participating in such international arbitration, said the minister.