U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has called on claimant countries in the South China Sea territorial dispute to exercise restraint and solve the issue peacefully according to international law.

Kerry told foreign ministers of countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that the U.S. shares the desire of the 10-member political and economic bloc to preserve peace in the region.

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"We want to ensure the security of critical sea lanes and fishing grounds and to see that disputes in the area are managed peacefully and on the basis of international law," he said.

Kerry made this statement after meeting with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday. The full detail of their closed-door discussions is unclear. A senior U.S. official has anonymously revealed to AP that Kerry and Wang discussed the South China Sea dispute when they met.

After the meeting, which Kerry described as "good", Wang reiterated that China supports peaceful dialogue to resolve the conflict.

Before departing for Kuala Lumpur this week, Wang, who was in Singapore, told the press that China will not discuss the South China Sea dispute at the ongoing 48^th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting. He explained that multilateral forums only enflames conflicts rather than resolve them.

Nonetheless, the U.S. and ASEAN member countries have insisted on tabling the topic.

Wang said China and the ASEAN have created a "dual-track approach" to resolving the conflict. He also commented on the progress made in the implementation of the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties (DoC) as well as the formulation of a Code of Conduct (CoC) in the South China Sea.

Nonetheless, ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh says China needs to do more to show its commitment to settling the dispute amicably. He called for a halt to China's land reclamation project in the South China Sea. According to Minh, it is "eroding trust and confidence among the parties, and complicating the very process of negotiating."

Recently, China's defense ministry spokesperson Yang Yujun accused the U.S. of "double standards" in the South China Sea issue. According to Yang, the U.S. has ignored construction works by other claimant countries in the disputed maritime territory.

U.S. officials say while China has reclaimed thousands of acres from the ocean in the past few months, the total amount of land won back in similar construction works by other claimant countries over the past four decades amounts to just 100 acres.

Tags48th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting South China Sea, South China Sea ASEAN, South China Sea China Islands