A top State Department official says, China is risking conflict and isolation through its assertive behavior in the disputed South China Sea.
Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken says US allies and partners in the region are concerned about China's land reclamation and militarisation of reefs. Six Asian governments have conflicting territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Blinken tells the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that unless China changes its approach and clarifies its claims in accordance with international law, it risks "conflict, instability and isolation."
The committee chairman, Senator Bob Corker, says China has positioned itself as a geopolitical rival of the United States. The Tennessee Republican is critical of the Obama administration's handling of the US-China relationship.
