A U.S. State official announced on Monday that the United States will continue to monitor the situation in the South China Sea to ensure that steps are being taken to prevent the heightening of tensions in the region.

The announcement comes two days after China and other Southeast Asian countries had rebuffed Washington during the ASEAN Regional Forum in Myanmar when the latter called for a moratorium on actions in the disputed waters.

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The official said Washington would closely monitor ASEAN-China talks to assess whether "de-escalatory" measures are being taken.

The talks are expected to occur in the following weeks and are intended to facilitate compliance to a 2002 agreement and the implementation of a Code of Conduct on maritime actions.

The United States will also be monitoring actual security conditions in and around the islands in the South China Sea, the State official added.

On Monday, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi released a statement rebuking non-Asian nations for interfering in affairs he believed China and the other ASEAN nations could handle.

Wang claimed countries outside the region continued to persist in stirring tensions in the region, questioning whether it was their intent to intentionally "create chaos in the region."

While Wang's statement did not specifically cite the United States, China's state-run publication Xinhua news agency said the remarks were directed at Washington.

The news agency accused U.S. of "stoking the flames" and emboldening countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines in taking a "hardline stance" against Beijing.

After the U.S. meddled in affairs in Iraq, Libya and Syria, Xinhua claimed the interference left the three countries in chaos. The Chinese news agency added that the South China Sea should not suffer the same fate.

Meanwhile, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the U.S. is doing everything it can to lower tensions in the region and resolve the conflict diplomatically, as opposed to the "coercive and destabilizing" actions being employed by the Chinese over the past months.

She argued that the actions done by the U.S. to avert conflict in the region have all been borne out of concern over the aggressive acts of the Chinese.

TagsU.S., ASEAN, maritime dispute, moratorium, maritime code of conduct