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Chinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in the waters around Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea in this still image from video taken by a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft provided by the U.S. Navy, May 21, 2015. U.S. Navy handout via Reuters

BEIJING (Reuters) -- China's building activities in the South China Sea will not affect freedom of navigation and China will never recklessly resort to use of force, senior Chinese General Fan Changlong said on Saturday.

Fan, one of the vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission, which President Xi Jinping heads and which controls the Chinese armed forces, made the comments at a forum in Beijing.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard, Writing by Michael Martina; Editing by Michael Perry)

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