Washington, July 14 -- The Chinese Embassy in the United States has slammed Washington's statements on the threats supposedly inflicted by Beijing in the South China Sea as "completely unjustified," the spokesperson for the diplomatic mission said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday that the United States rejected Beijing's claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea as fully illegal.

The Asia-Pacific region has several territorial disputes in the South China and East China seas that involve Brunei China, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

China considers the Spratly archipelago to be its territory, despite the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling, which said there was ...