Update | Beijing retains cool at key forum as US defence chief slams island-building in South China Sea
Washington must be 'careful in words and deeds' in protesting against reclamation work
The Foreign Ministry last night issued a strongly worded response to a speech by US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter at a high-level security forum in Singapore, in a conspicuous turn from relative mild comments by Chinese officials earlier in the day.
Speaking to top defence officials from Asia-Pacific at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue on yesterday morning, Carter said the United States was "deeply concerned" about the scale and pace of China's land reclamation and militarisation of islands in the South China Sea, many of them in waters that are contested by other southeast Asian nations.
Carter acknowledged that China was not the only country creating outposts in the region's disputed islands, but he said the scope of China's activity created uncertainty about its intentions.
"China has reclaimed more than 2,000 acres [800 hectares], more than all other claimants combined ... and China did so in only the last 18 months," Carter said.
China's reclamation would not help its sovereignty claims, he said: "Turning an underwater rock into an airfield … does not afford the rights of sovereignty or permit restrictions on international air or maritime transit."
Carter also spent much of his speech highlighting US engagement with Southeast Asian countries, and revealed that a US$425 million "Southeast Asia maritime security initiative," was likely to be authorised by the US Congress to build maritime security capacity among the region's countries.
While analysts and Chinese delegates said Carter was more skilful than his predecessor Chuck Hagel, the Foreign Ministry issued a strong worded statement saying the US had disregarded "history, legal principles and the facts," and called on Washington to consider of the importance maintaining stable Sino-US relations and to "be careful with its words and deeds".
Huang Jing, Lee Foundation Professor on US-China Relations of National University of Singapore's Lee Kun Yew School of Public Policy, noted the absence of reference to an earlier US pledge to send planes to within 12 nautical miles of the islands.
But China was also careful not to stoke tension further when it assured freedom of navigation in the region, he said.
China's chief delegate, Admiral Sun Jianguo, will address the forum today, where he is expected to appeal to China's neighbours about cooperation.