China denounces Australia's false remarks regarding South China Sea

BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese defense spokesperson on Thursday denounced recent false remarks by the Australian side regarding China's infrastructure construction and national defense deployment on the South China Sea islands.

Tan Kefei, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks at a press conference.

The South China Sea islands are inalienable parts of the Chinese territory. Therefore, China's building of infrastructure and deployment of necessary national defense forces in the region are entirely legitimate. No party -- and Australia is no exception -- has the right to pass groundless judgement on the matter, Tan said.

Reiterating China's opposition to and grave concerns regarding the nuclear submarine cooperation between the United States, Britain and Australia, Tan urged the three-party clique to do away with its Cold-War mentality and zero-sum game mindset, and take the responsibility to address international concerns on the issue.