Southeast Asian nations want China to stop land reclamation in the disputed South China Sea, a regional official said on Tuesday, but China insisted it has a right to continue the activity.
Le Luong Minh, secretary-general of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said ASEAN foreign ministers expressed concerns in a meeting over massive Chinese island-building activities that have escalated tensions in the area.
China, Taiwan and several ASEAN members - the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei - have wrangled over ownership and control of the South China Sea in a conflict that has flared on and off for decades.
Tensions rose last year when China began building artificial islands in the Spratly Islands, which the US and Beijing's rival claimant countries fear could impede freedom of navigation and overflights in a major transit area for the world's oil and merchandise.