China Says Carter’s Sea Comments ‘Foment Dissension’
5:39 AM EDT
May 30, 2015
U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter’s comments Saturday on the South China Sea ignored history and facts, serving to “foment dissension” on the Asian nation’s sovereignty and rights, the Chinese foreign ministry said.
China “strongly opposes” the U.S. reproaching its “normal and reasonable” construction work on related islands, spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement on the ministry’s website Saturday.
Carter singled out China as a source of instability at a conference of regional defense ministers and military chiefs on Saturday in Singapore, saying its reclamation dwarfs what others have done. China and some Asian nations have used dredging to expand reefs and shoals in the South China Sea, an area that carries some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
“One country has gone much further and much faster than any other,” Carter said. “And that’s China.”
The U.S. official called for a diplomatic settlement of rival territorial claims in the South China Sea, saying China and its neighbors should agree on a long-delayed code of conduct for the waters before year’s end.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-30/china-says-carter-s-sea-comments-foment-dissension-