Former U.S. President Bill Clinton took advantage of a conference held in Guangzhou to criticize China's territorial disputes on the southern and eastern seas with its neighboring countries in Asia.

Clinton attended a conference hosted by the Pacific Construction Group on Friday in the Chinese southern city where he slammed the Asian giant for bullying smaller countries like Vietnam and the Philippines.

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"Our position in the U.S. has been, 'We don't care what resolution is, but there should be a resolution ... so that Vietnam, the Philippines, and other smaller countries aren't overwhelmed by the size differential between themselves and China," he told Pacific founder Yan Jiehe.

The former U.S. president also made comments akin to this during an interview with CNN where he explained that such issues on natural resources should be discussed on a "multinational forum where small countries are not disadvantaged by being smaller that China."

However, he distinctively cited the China-Japan dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea to be "arguing on more or less [on] even terms" adding that territorial boundaries on both seas should be marked.

According to the Diplomat, Clinton's statements may affect the already strong dislike the country feels toward the Clintons which the news agency attributed to his wife, Hillary Clinton's "hawkish position" toward the country while she was still Secretary of State.

On a more positive note, Clinton applauded Chinese President Xi Jinping's stiff resolve to clean up the country's ranks of corrupt officials, to which the crowd of a thousand Chinese erupted in applause.

He also commended Xi's efforts in warming up relations between China and the U.S., citing Beijing and Washington's agreement on fluorocarbons to help reduce the world's growing dilemma on pollution and global warming.

TagsU.S., Bill Clinton