“There is no way for us to condone infringement of China’s territorial sea and airspace by any country under the pretext of maintaining the freedom of navigation and overflight,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Friday. China is “severely concerned” about reports that the United States planned patrols around the artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago, the ministry’s spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said. Five other governments also make territorial claims in those waters.

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During a news conference with President Obama at the White House, Mr. Xi said China had no intention of militarizing islands in the South China Sea. But exactly what Mr. Xi meant was unclear, American officials said, because he had not said anything like th