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China vows reciprocal trouble over its claim to disputed South China Seas

BEIJING has threatened to take action against those who challenge its claims through international arbitration to disputed waters in the South China Seas, an area also claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Speaking at a special briefing on the dispute, Ouyang Yujing, director general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs, warned: "The more the pressure, the greater the reaction."

This comes against the statement from Group of Seven (G-7) supporting arbitration, and "strong opposition to any intimidating coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions".

This comes in the wake of China creating artificial islands there to bolster its position, including the building of airstrips, reported the Voice of America.

Beijing has long insisted that the disputes be handled through bilateral negotiations between claimants and argued against any international involvement.

China has stepped up its rhetoric ahead of an international ruling on its claims in a case that the Philippines lodged against Beijing in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague.

The ruling is expected in the coming weeks and is likely to favour the Philippines. Soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy patrol at Woody Island, in the Paracel Archipelago, which is known in China as the Xisha Islands.

Mr Ouyang said that since the case is about sovereignty and maritime delineation, the court has no right to hear the case, adding that the Philippines has been "illegally occupying" Chinese islands from the 1960s.