China demands Australia stop 'inciting confrontation' over South China Sea

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has demanded Australia stop "exaggerating tensions and inciting confrontation" over the South China Sea after Penny Wong warned Beijing against "destabilising" conduct in the region. Penny Wong and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met earlier this week. ( Supplied: DFAT ) The Chinese foreign ministry has demanded Australia stop "exaggerating tensions and inciting confrontation" over activity in the South China Sea.

The comments came after Foreign Minister Penny Wong condemned Beijing for blaming the Philippines for an altercation between the two parties in the region. The US State Department and European Union delegation have issued statements expressing concern over China's behaviour. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has demanded Australia stop "exaggerating tensions and inciting confrontation" over the South China Sea after Penny Wong warned Beijing against "destabilising" conduct in the region.

The comments came after China and the Philippines blamed one another for a physical confrontation between the China Coast Guard and the Philippine Navy in the South China Sea on Monday. On Wednesday Senator Wong said Australia was concerned about "aggression" and "destabilising conduct" and that countries had a "choice to make" about how to respond. When asked about Senator Wong's comments, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that "whenever there is the slightest disturbance at sea … the same small handful of countries rush to the forefront to oppose China without regard for the facts".

"China urges the relevant countries to stop exaggerating tensions and inciting confrontation, and to genuinely respect the efforts made by regional countries to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, Mr Lin said. China says Australia is inciting confrontation amid tension over the launching of a missile that landed in the intended area. ( CCTV ) The spat comes against the backdrop of an intense bout of regional diplomacy in the Philippines, which is hosting dozens of foreign ministers and senior officials for the annual ASEAN meeting in Manila.

The issue of China's behaviour loomed large ahead of the meeting, and ASEAN foreign ministers are eager to make progress on a South China Sea code of conduct that they hope will be finalised by the end of the year. But the physical confrontation, in which a Filipino sailor was struck on the head with a baton, threw the issue back into the spotlight. At a press conference, local journalists asked Senator Wong about the incident, as well as a Chinese missile test and rising tensions in the region.

"We are concerned about some of the aggression we are seeing, we are concerned about some of the destabilising conduct we are seeing, the foreign minister said. "The countries of the region have a choice to make about how we all respond to that and Australia believes we should respond to that by working for peace and stability … [and] by continuing to call for and encouraging compliance with observation of international law and of safe and professional conduct at sea and in the air. Senator Wong met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday night and raised Australia's concerns over China's missile test earlier this month.

China fired a dummy warhead from a nuclear-powered submarine. It landed in the Pacific, around the exclusive economic zone of Tuvalu. The verbal stoush comes as the foreign minister prepares to deliver a sometimes-grim speech on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting on Thursday, where she will urge for freedom of navigation to be protected and warn the region that no "single power" should be able to "set the terms of our future".

Senator Wong is expected to use the address to make it clear that critical waterways like the Strait of Hormuz must remain toll-free. "The Strait of Hormuz shows what we in this region have always understood … that people suffer when a strait is weaponised, she will say. She will once again take aim at China over its recent ballistic missile test, saying it "came with too little information and notification, particularly to the Philippines — which the missile flew over — and Pacific nations, near where the missile landed".

"It comes in the context of China's rapid military build-up, including of its nuclear arsenal, without the transparency or reassurance the region expects, she will say. "Which is why Australia has described the test as provocative and destabilising. She is also set to urge other countries in the region to "resist the urge to turn inwards" and "the trend away from rules to use of power" in the face of global strategic ruptures and China's growing might.