CRI听力:China Cannot Afford to Lose An Inch of Its Territory

Fang Fenghui, Chief of General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, says China should not be held responsible for the South China Sea dispute.

"It is a very normal behaviour for China to conduct this drilling activity within our own territorial water. And under that bare ground Vietnam sent, dispatched vessels and ships for disruption of that activity and that is something that we are not able to accept. What we are going to do is to make sure of the safety of the oil rig and ensure the operation keeps going on."

Fang Fenghui also urges Washington to be objective about the maritime territorial issues.

He adds China will protect those areas it views as its sovereign territory.

"The United States said that its re-balancing policy towards the Asia-Pacific region is not targeting China. However, some countries in the region see it as an opportunity to provoke China and want to gain something out of the provocation. China will never tolerate such provocative actions. We have a firm resolution on asserting our sovereignty, security and territorial integrity. We will keep our words, and never give up even one inch of land that we inherited from our ancestors."

When speaking of bilateral relations, Fang Fenghui notes the relationships between China the US and between the two militaries are very important for maintaining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

For his part, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey considers his meeting with Fang very productive.

"We had a refreshingly frank and open discussion on our mutual concerns and differing opinions about the East China sea. As we discussed last year as a major regional power it's important for China to model great power by contributing to stability in the region and we committed to work with each other toward that end."

The two parties have agreed to set up a mechanism to inform each other about major maritime operations.

Personnel will soon be assigned to implement the agreements.

Fang Fenghui's visit is designed to implement the consensus reached by Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama on building a new relationship based on mutual respect and win-win cooperation.

Fang Fenghui's US visit lasts till the weekend.

For CRI, I'm Xie Zhao.