China is defending its right to deploy "necessary military facilities" in the South China Sea after analysis produced by a U.S. think tank indicated that Beijing has moved weapons to artificial islands in the region.
China's defense ministry released a statement Thursday describing the deployment of "necessary defense facilities" to islands and reefs in the Nansha Islands as defensive and legitimate.
"The deployment of necessary military facilities that will be mainly used for defense and self-defense purposes is legitimate," the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China said. "For instance, if anyone flexes muscle in front of your house, shouldn't you prepare a bow and arrow?"
The ministry was specifically responding to new analysis published by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Wednesday showing that China has installed anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems on seven of its manmade islands in the South China Sea.
The analysis, first reported by Reuters, indicates that China has deployed weapons to seven reefs on which Beijing has conducted dredging in the disputed Spratly island chain, which China refers to as the Nansha islands.
China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, though an international tribunal concluded in July that the territorial claims have no legal or historical basis. Several other countries also lay claim to territory in the South China Sea.
The Chinese defense ministry on Thursday declared China's "indisputable sovereignty" over the Spratly islands and the territorial waters that surround it. The statement also claimed that construction on the features has been largely for "civilian purposes."
U.S. officials, experts, and lawmakers have characterized China's actions in the South China Sea as militarization, though Beijing has rejected these accusations.
The U.S. Navy has sailed warships close to islands in the South China Sea over which Beijing lays claim, in exercise of freedom of navigation through international waters. The operations have drawn ire from China but not curtailed Beijing's island-building activity in the region.