China's defence ministry sent us their response by fax.
We had asked whether they could confirm reports they had deployed surface-to-air missiles to a disputed island in the South China Sea.
"The Xisha Islands are China's inherited territory," came the reply, using China's name for what is also known as the Paracel group.
"China has the legitimate rights to deploy protection facilities in the territory, to safeguard national sovereignty and safety.
"The hype from certain Western media is purely the repeat of 'China threat theory'."
So indignation, but not a denial.
:: Taiwan Criticises China Over Island Missiles
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi had earlier made a similar statement - accusing Western media of creating stories, but also stressing that any 'limited self-protection operations' were in line with national policy and international law.
In short - China views these islands as its sovereign territory, and any military facilities that might appear there as legitimate self-defence.
Beijing says its reclamation work is mainly aimed at improving search and rescue capacity in the area and securing the region's critical trade routes.
The Foreign Minister said he hoped as much attention would be paid to the new lighthouses and weather stations China is building.
It won't.
Some background - despite the name, territorial rights in the South China Sea are fiercely disputed.
:: China Furious As US Warship Sails Past Island
It's one of the world's busiest shipping routes - $5 trillion (£3.5 trillion) in global trade passes through it every year.
It's also thought to hold huge deposits of oil and gas.
China has laid claim to most of the territory since the end of the Second World War, but the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have rival claims.
The US has been carrying out what it calls 'freedom of navigation' patrols - pointedly exercising the rights to passage laid down under the UN Convention on the law of the sea.
This also means effectively rejecting Beijing's claim to territorial rights around the islands.
Last month, they sent a US Navy destroyer within 12 nautical miles of the Paracel chain.
China was furious - calling it a "provocation" - and there is a view that this might be its response.
Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the US Pacific Command, said today that the deployment of missiles would not be a surprise, but would be a concern, and a clear indication of militarisation.
He said they would conduct "more, and more complex, freedom of navigation operations".
"We have no intention of stopping," he said.
So basically no-one's backing down.
Tension in the region continues to ratchet slowly, incrementally up.
Barack Obama was wrapping up a summit with leaders of Southeast Asian Nations as the news came through.
Without actually mentioning China directly, he said they had discussed the need to ease tensions in the South China Sea.
Sounds good, but so far just the opposite is happening.
Easing tensions in the South China Sea will be easier said than done.