China is "clearly militarizing the South China (Sea)," said Admiral Harry Harris, head of the US Pacific Command, adding: "You'd have to believe in a flat Earth to think otherwise."
Soon after he spoke, the US and Chinese foreign ministers signaled that despite disagreements over the South China Sea, they were near agreement on a UN resolution against North Korea for its recent nuclear and missile tests and stressed their cooperation on economic and other issues.
Speaking ahead of the meeting in Washington between China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State John Kerry, Harris said China was escalating the situation in the South China Sea with new deployments. Asked about its aims, he said: "I believe China seeks hegemony in East Asia.
Harris said he believed China's deployment of surface-to-air missiles on Woody Island in the South China Sea's Paracel chain, new radars on Cuarteron Reef in Spratlys and its building of airstrips were "actions that are changing in my opinion the operational landscape in the South China Sea."
Responding to another question, Harris said Chinese DF-21 and DF-26 anti-ship missiles could pose a threat to US aircraft carriers, but said the vessels were resilient and that the United States had "the capability to do what has to be done if it comes to that."
Harris also said he supported regular US air and naval patrols to assert freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, a vital waterway through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year.
At a joint news conference with Kerry, Wang said there had been no problems with freedom of navigation and China and countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations - several of which have competing claims with China - "have the capability to maintain stability in the South China Sea."
He said militarization was not the responsibility of one party alone and added in apparent reference to US patrols: "We don't hope to see any more close-up military reconnaissance, or the dispatch of missile destroyers or strategic bombers to the South China Sea."
Kerry said steps by China, Vietnam and others that had created an "escalatory cycle."
"What we are trying to do it break that cycle," he said.
"Regrettably there are missiles and fighter aircraft and guns and other things that have been placed into the South China Sea and this if of great concern to everyone who transits and relies on the South China Sea for peaceful trade," he added.
After the news conference, Fox News reported that China had deployed fighter aircraft to Woody island. The broadcaster said US intelligence had seen the planes in the past few days.
A US think tank reported on Monday that China may be installing a high-frequency radar system on the Cuarteron Reef in the Spratly Islands that could significantly boost its ability to control the strategic sea.
On Thursday, the United States accused China of raising tensions by its apparent deployment of surface-to-air missiles on Woody Island. China's has also built military-length airstrips on artificial islands in the South China Sea.
China's Foreign Ministry said ahead of Wang's visit Beijing's military deployments in the South China Sea were no different from US deployments on Hawaii.
China's Ministry of Defence said on its microblog on Tuesday China had established "necessary defensive facilities" that were "legal and appropriate."
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