China has urged the United States to refrain from interfering in other countries' affairs and to respect the rules of the international seas. This is in response to an annual US defense department report released on Monday, which says the US military conducted "freedom of navigation" operations against 13 countries last year, including several to challenge China's claims in the South and East China seas.

"We regard the so-called 'freedom of navigation' operations as the violent means to which the US resorts to promote its unilateral claims. The US put forward the 'freedom of navigation' operations before the signing of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1979, because it wanted to maintain, to the best of its ability, the mobility of its military forces in various waters across the world and challenge the new maritime order,"

"This shows well the hegemonic logic of the US towards the international maritime order. We hope the US can respect the sovereignty and security of other countries and contribute more to safeguard the international maritime order and regional peace and stability," said Hua Chunying, spokesperson of Chinese Foreign Ministry.