US, China trade barbs at UN over South China Sea

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called out bullying in the SouthChinaSea on Monday and warned the UN Security Council that a conflict "would have seriousglobal consequences for security and for commerce," sparking a strong rebuke fromChina.

The SouthChinaSea has become one of many flashpoints in the testy relationship betweenChinaand the United States, with Washington rejecting what it calls unlawful territorial claims by Beijing in the resource-rich waters.

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"Conflict in the SouthChinaSea, or in any ocean, would have seriousglobal consequences for security, and for commerce," Blinken told a Security Council meeting on maritime security. "When a state faces no consequences for ignoring these rules, it fuels greater impunity and instability everywhere."

Chinaclaims vast swaths of the SouthChinaSea which overlap with the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines. Trillions of dollars in trade flow every year through the waterway, which also contains rich fishing grounds and gas fields.

"We have seen dangerousencounters between vessels at sea and provocative actions to advance unlawful maritime claims," said Blinken, adding that Washington was concerned by actions that "intimidate and bully other states from lawfully accessing their maritime resources."

China's deputy UN Ambassador Dai Bing accused the United States of "stirring up trouble out nothing, arbitrarily sending advanced military vessels and aircraft into the SouthChinaSea as provocations and publicly trying to drive a wedge into regional countries."

"This country itself has become the biggest threat to peace and stability in the SouthChinaSea," Dai said.

Blinken said it was the responsibility of all countries, not just claimants to the islands and waters of the SouthChinaSea, to defend the rules they had all agreed to follow to peacefully resolve maritime disputes.