China rejected fresh concerns raised by Japan over its reclamation projects in the South China Sea, insisting that such actions are within the scope of its sovereignty.
  

In its annual defense paper released on Tuesday, Japan highlighted its concerns over China's large-scale land reclamation projects in the South China Sea, which is resource-rich and includes key shipping lanes.
  

China claims sovereignty over nearly 90 percent of the South China Sea, worsening relations with neighbors such as the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam. Beijing is also in a bitter dispute with Tokyo over islets in the East China Sea.
  

"China's construction on some garrisoned Nansha islands and reefs, which does not affect or target any other country, is fully within China's sovereignty and beyond reproach," China's foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement posted on the ministry's website late Tuesday.
  

"Japan's actions of deliberately intervening in the South China Sea issue and playing up regional tensions run counter to regional peace and stability, and severely undermine the political and security mutual trust between China and Japan," the statement said.
  

The U.S. has increased criticism of China for the land reclamation projects that Beijing has been carrying out in an apparent effort to bolster its territorial claims in the South China Sea. (Yonhap)