KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—The United States and China clashed 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 United States, 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 (ASEAN) that the United States 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.” A senior U.S. official said Kerry made the case for easing tensions in a closed-door meeting with Wang.
In his meeting with Wang, Kerry reiterated U.S. concerns about the rising tensions and “China’s large scale reclamation, construction, and militarization of features,” according to the senior U.S. official.
The official said Kerry had “encouraged” China, and the other claimants, “to halt problematic actions in order to create space for diplomacy.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the private meeting.
