US, China clash over South China Sea disputes

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: The US and China clashed on Wednesday over who is to blame for rising tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea with Washington demanding a halt to “problematic actions” in the area and Beijing telling foreign parties to keep out. In blunt but diplomatic terms, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi suggested that efforts to ease tensions over competing claims remained a contentious work in progress despite hopes for movement on ways to resolve them here at a Southeast Asian regional security forum.

Kerry urged China to end provocative land reclamation projects in the South China Sea that have ratcheted up tensions with its smaller neighbors in some of the world's busiest commercial sea lanes. Wang, meanwhile, sent a strong message that those without claims, such as the US, should allow China and the other claimants to deal with them on their own.

Kerry told foreign ministers of members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that the U.S. shares their desire “to ensure the security of critical sea lanes and fishing grounds, and we want to see that disputes in the area are managed peacefully and on the basis of international law.”