On May 21, 2015, a US navy P-8A patrol aircraft carrying a CNN reporter undertook a close reconnaissance mission over some islands and reefs of China's Nansha Islands.

Some senior US officials have talked up the South China Sea (SCS) issue on various occasions and seriously distorted the purpose of China's legitimate construction activities on the islands.

In response to the constant interference of the US in the South China Sea issue, spokespersons and senior officials of China’s Foreign Ministry have reiterated China's stance through press conferences and interviews.

As China’s flagship newspaper, People's Daily has published a series of commentaries to clarify China's positions, which have aroused heated discussions among its readers.

In the commentary “America's irresponsible actions are detrimental to stability of the South China Sea”, People’s Daily warns against the US crossing the vast Pacific Ocean to spy on other countries with a long-focus lens.

Despite differing points of view, the majority of the readers side with China.

Supporting China’s standpoint, netizen yewtai said that the US smokescreen of protecting "freedom of navigation" is ridiculous.

On Facebook, “China's construction on the Nansha Islands is legitimate” reached over 200,000 readers and was “liked” by 8,000. When Fabi Jerry from the Philippines commented that the US came to oppose China because China had no respect for its neighboring countries, many netizens argued with him. Daniel Shrestha said, "No way, China has good respect of neighboring countries, example is Nepal, it has acted in a very neutral way." Ilyas Abasi from Pakistan also expressed his disagreement, citing the great relationship between Pakistan and China as evidence.

The article “No one tells us what to do, Beijing says” reached over 290,000 people and received 16,000 likes. The people have shown their confidence in the Chinese Dream, as well as their belief that China plays a constructive role. Leland Wong commented, "The China dream is becoming reality, we are living at the beginning of the Chinese Millennium and the Golden Age of China once again." A netizen named Syed Rameez from India said that China should guide Asian countries to unite.

In an interview with CNN, China’s Ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai, stressed that “What China is doing is fully within the scope of our sovereignty.” Following the interview, Samiran Halim from Indonesia commented, "China has the right to control South China Sea with peace."

People’s Daily Online, a large-scale information interaction platform constructed by People’s Daily, strives to enhance mutual understanding and reduce misgivings between China and the rest of the world.

A netizen in the name of Laozhong wrote that China must seize the initiative by using the power of the media to expose the evil doings of other countries on China as soon as they occur.