BEIJING -- China says the U.S. is putting regional stability in East Asia at risk following remarks by Defence Secretary Jim Mattis that an island group China claims falls under the U.S.-Japan mutual defence treaty.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman on Saturday called on the U.S. to cease "making wrong remarks" over the issue. Lu reasserted China's claim of sovereignty over the tiny uninhabited islands, known in Japanese as the Senkaku and Chinese as Diaoyu.
In a statement posted to the ministry's website, Lu said the U.S. should avoid complicating the issue and "bringing instability to the regional situation."
The U.S. Department of Defence quoted Mattis as telling Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a meeting Friday that their mutual defence treaty applied to all areas under Japanese administration, including the islands.
