China's assertive behaviour, particularly in the disputed South China Sea, is alienating its neighbours and turning them against it, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter has said.
"It (Chinese behaviour) is having the effect of turning everyone who might otherwise be perfectly willing to work with China in security terms, as we would in principle. It is turning them against China," Carter said.
Refuting Chinese fear that the US wants to dominate the region, Carter said that for the last 70 years, America has played a sheet anchor role in ensuring peace in Asia, resulting in the growth of countries like India and China.
"The system that we have promoted for security and also commerce in Asia for 70 years is one in which everyone gets to rise and prosper. Think about the history in which Japan recovered from World War II and became a great economic powerhouse, then South Korea, then Taiwan, then Southeast Asia.
"Today China and India. Why was that? What was the security anchor underneath all of that? The answer is it has been the pivotal role of the United States. That's a role we intend to keep, to continue to play," Carter told the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in an interview.
Responding to questions on South China Sea, Carter said China is not the only country to have claims in the disputed resource-rich region.
"They (China) have said that they have claims to the territorial seas in the South China Sea. They're not the only ones who do. There are other countries there - the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and so forth - who have long- standing claims to this part of the South China Sea," he said.
"What a number of them have done but China has done by far and away most aggressively is, first of all, take some land features that weren't really islands and go out and put a dredging machine and try to create an island thereby create a de facto presence for themselves," he said.
Reiterating that the US does not intend to take a legal position in these claims, Carter said the Chinese behaviour is having a major impact on the region.
"They are first causing us to react, and we are making big investments in that in the military capabilities that will allow us to continue to be the pivotal military power in that region no matter what the Chinese have done," Carter said.
