ADDIS ABABA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Although it is China's firm position that its sovereignty and territorial integrity brook no violation, China remains willing to address and resolve the emerging maritime disputes through consultations and negotiations, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia La Yifan has reiterated.
In a recent interview with Xinhua, the ambassador said that the freedom of navigation and over-flight in the South China Sea has never been an issue.
Due to a number of reasons, the South China Sea dispute has become a more complicated and more widely-talked-about issue in recent years, he said.
Unwarranted accusations over the namely freedom of navigation and over-flight in the South China Sea and China's construction activities on its own islands are among the reasons for the dispute, according to the ambassador.
He expressed China's commitment to addressing and resolving the emerging maritime disputes through consultations and negotiations.
He also recalled that China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) established a dialogue mechanism in the 1990s to enhance mutual trust, reduce misgivings and deepen cooperation.
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