Refuting the accusations made by Japanese media on Feb. 3 against a Chinese naval warship's passing through the waters between the Island of Okinawa and Miyako Island, he declared it is a routine work included in the yearly plan for a naval flotilla of the Chinese People's Liberation Army to conduct maneuvers in the Western Pacific Ocean in the first half of February.

China has a legitimate right to freely sail in the waters and this is in line with international law, he added.