Foreign Ministers from the Group of Seven leading economies expressed concern over territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas where China has been more aggressively asserting its claims in recent years.

Actions in the South China Sea may sow mistrust with China’s neighbors, at the expense of China’s export-led infrastructure development growth. South China Sea Joint Development Areas, however, can enable China and Southeast Asia to reach a constructive, precedent-setting middle ground sidelining politics and focusing on mutually beneficial economics, like building a global electric grid.

Mutual accommodation and respect for each other’s core interests will guarantee security for all. The construction of a new regional security framework has to be based on the principle of “common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security for all concerned”, as proposed by President Xi Jinping.

Washington has forced its way into the issue to complicate it further and escalate of regional tension. Such an egocentric move is against the trend of the times and the fundamental interests of the countries in the region and is bound to end in failure.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that China is resolute in defending its sovereignty in the South China Sea, and believes the disputes should be settled peacefully by relevant claimants through direct talks, Xinhua said.

The United States has told China it will not recognize an exclusion zone in the South China Sea and would view such a move as "destabilizing," U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work said on Wednesday.

Depending on military might to preserve US dominance of the globe is a strategic error on four counts, and that approach is oblivious to both China’s peaceful rise and the real desires of China’s neighbors.

President Barack Obama will be meeting with Asian leaders in Washington this week as fears grow that long-smoldering tensions on the Korean Peninsula and in the South China Sea risk flaring into conflict.

The militaries of China and Vietnam should deepen their exchanges, communication and friendship, China's defense minister said during a visit to Hanoi, amid a festering territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

With the deployment of advanced weaponry and coupled with extensive media coverage, the US military has put on a show similar to a Hollywood blockbuster. But war is not imminent: The US simply hopes to increase China’s costs for such sovereignty-defending activities through military, political, diplomatic and media tools – and embarrass China diplomatically.