China Denies Placing Anti-Aircraft Missile Systems On Artificial Islands In South China Sea

China has denied media reports of a possible deployment of its anti-aircraft missile systems on one of the artificial islands in the South China Sea.

“These posts have been created "by some Western media," and encouraged them to pay more attention to the construction of China on the peaceful island of objects, in particular beacons,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was quoted as saying during a press conference by Interfax news agency Wednesday.

US Fox News reported earlier that China despite promises of not using the artificial islands for military purposes had placed anti-aircraft missiles (SAM) on one of the islands.

The Pentagon also confirmed the reports referring to satellite images that demonstrate installed on two SAM batteries on the island.