Chinese general says Beijing will never 'recklessly' resort to force in South China Sea amid territorial disputes

China will never "recklessly" resort to the use of force in the South China Sea, a senior Chinese general said on Saturday, amid tensions over Beijing’s building of islands in the disputed waters.

China’s relations with several Southeast Asian countries, especially the Philippines and Vietnam who have competing claims in the South China Sea, have been strained over Beijing’s increasingly assertive tone on territorial claims in an area through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes annually.

Beijing’s move last year to step up the creation of artificial islands, which it says are mostly for civilian purposes, has drawn strong criticism from Washington.

Fan Changlong, one of the vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission which controls the Chinese armed forces and is headed by President Xi Jinping, told a high-level security forum that China had sought to avoid conflict.

"We will never recklessly resort to the use of force, even on issues of sovereignty, and have done our utmost to avoid unexpected conflicts," Fan told the forum, attended by Southeast Asian defence ministers.

Fan reiterated that China’s islands "will not affect freedom of navigation in the South China Sea" and said recently completed lighthouses on Cuarteron Reef and Johnson South Reef in the Spratly archipelago "have already begun to provide navigation services to all nations".