China's construction in the South China Sea is reasonable and legitimate, a military spokesperson said Thursday at a press conference.

Answering a reporter's question on the Chinese army’s military deployment in the South China Sea, Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense stated: "For the so-called military deployment in the South China Sea, I would like to clarify that the construction on the South China Sea reefs is not the so-called expansion of military deployment. The current situation of the South China Sea is going well, and the parties should continue to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea."

This was the first press conference of Chinese Ministry of National Defense after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The whole army is fully implementing Xi Jinping's thought of building a strong military and transforming people’s armed forces into a world-class force. 

"We will make it our mission to see that by 2035, the modernization of our national defense and our forces is basically completed; and that by the mid-21st century our people’s armed forces have been fully transformed into world-class forces," Xi said in the report delivered at the 19th CPC National Congress on October 18.

When it came to the question about the People's Liberation Army's (PLA)'s flight around Taiwan, the spokesperson responded, "Taiwan is part of China. We have the confidence, ability, method to maintain cross-strait reunification and the integrity of sovereignty, security and territory."