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SINGAPORE, June 5 (UPI) -- China flexed its muscles during Asia's largest defense summit that concluded Sunday saying it would stand its ground on claims in the South China Sea. "We do not make trouble, but we have no fear of trouble," said Admiral Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of staff of the People's Liberation Army, who led the Chinese delegation at the summit.
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The summit concluded amid growing fears of a legal and military showdown in the South China Sea over China's rapid construction of artificial islands with helipads, ports and airstrips in one of the world's most bitterly contested waterways, Al Jazeera reported.
The United States has protested China's shows of force, sending warships and aircraft carriers to the region. On Friday at the summit, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter warned China was at risk of "erecting a Great Wall of self-isolation" if it continued with its policies in the region.
During the weekend Shagri-La Dialogue, Chinese military officials said they plan to ignore a legal ruling from the Philippines challenging China's claim of the disputed waters. The South China Sea is considered a key shipping route between the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is expected within weeks.
Chinese Admiral Sun Jianguo addressed the tensions resulting from overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea, saying the issue had "become overheated because of provocations of certain countries for their own selfish interests," CNN reported.
He went on to reiterate that Beijing would not recognize a pending decision of an international tribunal in The Hague in a case brought by the Philippines contesting China's claim to some territory in the region.
Numerous countries have overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea, including China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. All dispute the sovereignty of various island chains and surrounding waters, which has triggered a number of clashes and standoffs in recent years.
France plans to urge European Union nations to coordinate navy patrols to ensure a "regular and visible" presence in the disputed sea, the latest sign of international push back to China's expanding military clout in the area, Bloomberg reported.
France's government views protection of the seas as critical from an economic standpoint and is concerned that a loss of such rights in the South China Sea may lead to similar problems in the Arctic Ocean or Mediterranean Sea, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said during the summit.
