“The way forward is for China, and all claimants, to freeze their reclamation activities and resolve their difference in accordance the rule of law,” he said.
“In both eastern Ukraine and the South China Sea, we’re witnessing efforts to unilaterally and coercively change the status quo — transgressions that the United States and our allies stand united against,” Blinken said in a speech at the Center for a New American Security think tank.
China claims nearly all of the South China Sea and says it has every right to build up reefs there. Its top diplomat State Councilor Yang Jiechi said after talks with the United States this week that freedom of navigation in the Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year, was guaranteed.
“中国以及其他所有争议国家的出路，是冻结填海活动，根据法律解决彼此分歧。”他说。
“在乌克兰东部，在南海，我们见证了单方面改变现状的努力，迫使美国及其盟友联合起来反对。”布林肯在一次演讲中说道。
中国声称几乎整个南海的主权，称有权利在那里建群礁。中国国务卿杨洁篪本周在与美方举行会谈后表示，南海的航行自由是得到保证的。
目前，每年有5万亿美元的航运贸易经过那里。
