SINGAPORE — China’s aggressive moves to claim jurisdiction over land and sky in the Asia-Pacific risk undermining peace and security in the region and beyond, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Saturday. Beijing scoffed at the “groundless” charges.
Hagel said at an international security conference that the United States “will not look the other way” when China and others try to restrict navigation or ignore international rules.
China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea are destabilizing the region, he said, adding that Beijing’s failure to resolve such disputes threatens East Asia’s long-term progress.
Lt. Gen. Wang Guanzhong, deputy chief of China’s General Staff, told Hagel after the speech, “You were very candid this morning and, to be frank, more than our expectation.”
