BEIJING – China on Friday urged the United States to stop playing up tensions and instigating confrontation in the South China Sea, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

Spokesperson for the ministry Guo Jiakun made the remarks in response to a press statement issued by the US State Department spokesperson on Aug 8 local time, which said the United States rejects China's attempts to set up the national nature reserve at Huangyan Dao and deny Filipino fishermen access to their "traditional fishing ground" as reflected in the 2016 Arbitral Award.

"Huangyan Dao has always been China's territory," Guo said, adding that it is within China's sovereign rights to establish and administer the Huangyan Dao national nature reserve.

He noted that the United States is in no position to point fingers, and the "South China Sea arbitral award", which is illegal, null and void, provides no solid ground for the United States to speak for the Philippines.

China urges the United States to stop citing the illegal and invalid "award", and stop using maritime issues as a pretext to smear China, the spokesperson added.