China on Tuesday set up an organizing committee for the legislative body of Sansha, officially beginning the formation of the government of the newly established city that will administer the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands and the surrounding waters in the South China Sea.

The move demonstrates China's resolve to safeguard its territorial sovereignty.

China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands and the adjacent waters in the South China Sea, which is in line with the spirit of the "land dominates the sea" of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and supported by historical and present evidence.