US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel accused China on Saturday of taking "destabilising, unilateral actions" in the South China Sea, and warned that Washington will not remain passive if the international order is threatened.
"In recent months, China has undertaken destabilising, unilateral actions asserting its claims in the South China Sea," Hagel told a top Asian security forum in Singapore.
"The United States will not look the other way when fundamental principles to the international order are being challenged."