China has defended its deployment of military assets in the volatile South China Sea “as legitimate and legal” even as it called out the United States for projecting a military presence in the region that “far exceeds the total military strength of China and other littoral countries.” "China is not the first to deploy weapons in the South China Sea region, neither is it the one that deploys the largest number of weapons, still it's the one that conducts military activities most frequently there.

Mabasa, R. C. (2018, June 02). China says military deployment in South China Sea 'legitimate'. Manila Bulletin, p. 5.