KUALA LUMPUR — The United States and China clashed on Wednesday over who is to blame for rising tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea with Washington demanding a halt to “problematic actions” in the area and Beijing telling foreign parties to keep out. In blunt but diplomatic terms, US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi suggested that efforts to ease tensions over competing claims remained a contentious work in progress despite hopes for movement on ways to resolve them here at a Southeast Asian regional security forum. Kerry urged China to end provocative land reclamation projects in the South China Sea that have ratcheted up tensions with its smaller neighbors in some of the world's busiest commercial sea lanes. Wang, meanwhile, sent a strong message that those without claims, such as the United States, should allow China and the other claimants to deal with them on their own. Kerry told foreign ministers of members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that the US shares their desire “to ensure the security of critical sea lanes and fishing grounds, and we want to see that disputes in the area are managed peacefully and on the basis of international law.” A senior US official said Kerry made the case for easing tensions in a closed-door meeting with Wang. In his meeting with Wang, Kerry reiterated US concerns about the rising tensions and “China's large scale reclamation, construction, and militarization of features,” according to the senior US official. The official said Kerry had “encouraged” China, and the other claimants, “to halt problematic actions in order to create space for diplomacy.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the private meeting. Chinese land reclamation in contested waters has irked Southeast Asian nations who, like the US, want China to stop. Washington is calling for a halt to aggressive actions by China and other claimants to allow a diplomatic solution to the rift. The US is not a party to the conflict but says a peaceful resolution of the problem and freedom of navigation are in the US national interest. China rejects any US involvement and insists it has the right to continue the reclamation projects. Beijing was opposed to the issue being raised at the security forum in the first place. Kerry told the ASEAN ministers that his meeting with Wang had been “good” and that he hoped “we will find a way to move forward effectively, together, all of us” over the course of the two-day forum. But Wang gave no indication he had been swayed by Kerry, telling reporters later that foreign parties should support Beijing and ASEAN's plan to accelerate negotiations on a code of conduct governing behavior in the disputed waters. — AP
