Washington and Beijing traded tit-for-tat barbs over the disputed South China Sea at a regional summit in Bangkok on Monday, with the US accusing the fellow superpower of intimidating claimants in the resource-rich waterway.
China hit back with a veiled criticism of the US, accusing it of ratcheting up tensions in the waters, a key global shipping route.
Beijing lays claim to huge swathes of the sea where it is accused of building military installations and fake islands, and ramming fishing vessels.
The US has long accused it of bullying fellow claimants —Vietnam, Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei — calling for freedom of navigation in the area.
US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien doubled down on America’s rhetoric against China on Monday, speaking at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit.
“Beijing has used intimidation to try and stop ASEAN nations from exploiting their offshore resources,” he said, addressing an ASEAN meeting on Monday.
“Big countries should not bully other countries,” he later told reporters.