China has defended building work on islands and reefs in the South China Sea as 'reasonable and fair'. This comes after the Philippines called on other ASEAN countries to unite in urging China to halt reclamation of land in the South China Sea.

"Chinese building on islands in the South China Sea is completely within the scope of China's sovereignty; it is reasonable, fair and lawful. It does not affect any other country. Criticism by certain countries of China is totally unreasonablem," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei.

The foreign ministry spokesman also hit out at countries who tried to hold the China-ASEAN relationship "hostage" through raising such issues. The spokesman says the construction on the islands and reefs is for civil purposes, and will boost environmental protection and navigation security, and will benefit all.

He says China will continue to use a dual-track approach, which means dealing with territorial issues either bi-laterally or as a group through ASEAN, to resolve the disputes.