In High-Level Talks, US Presses China to Halt Militarization of South China Sea

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and then-Defense Secretary James Mattis listen to Chinese Communist Party Office of Foreign Affairs Director Yang Jiechi speak as they hold a joint media news conference after participating in a second diplomatic and security meeting at the U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C. on Nov. 9, 2018. Leah Millis/Reuters

WASHINGTON— The United States on Nov. 9 urged China to halt its militarization of the disputed South China Sea, drawing a rebuke from Beijing for sending U.S. warships and planes close to islands claimed by China in the strategic waterway.

During a round of high-level talks in Washington, the two sides aired many of their main geopolitical differences, including a bitter trade dispute, freedom of navigation in the Asia-Pacific region, self-ruled Taiwan, and China’s crackdown on its Muslim minority.