Claiming the United States seeks no conflict with China, US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter has said the world's most populous nation is nevertheless starting to lose allies among its neighbors in the South China Sea. 

Carter made the comment last Friday during a panel discussion at the World Economic (WE) Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

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"I've been to India, Vietnam recently," Carter said. "We want to have good relations with them and we are not asking people to take sides."

Referring to diplomatic tensions over China's reliance on military -- rather than diplomatic -- measures to assert its claims in the disputed territories of the South China Sea, Carter said the US, like India, wants as much as possible to maintain a neutral position.  

"I think their position is basically right, which is we want everybody to keep being able to do what they are doing.  We don't want to have to pick sides," said Carter. "America doesn't want to pick sides, either."

Self-isolating Steps

The US defense secretary admitted, however, that a growing number of governments in the region have begun to look to the US for military support in the face of China's aggressive posture.

"Why is that?" Carter said.  "It is because China is taking some steps that I think are self-isolating, driving people towards a result that none of us wants."

Carter -- a former physicist and university professor -- said he does not believe a conflict between China and the US is imminent. He asserted that the stabilizing presence of the US in the Asia Pacific has helped to make China's economic progress possible.

"I'm not one of those people who believes conflict between the United States and China is inevitable, it's certainly not desirable," he said.  "I don't think it's likely."

Rising Military Powers

Carter was one of four panelists in a session organized to discuss the global security outlook at the annual WE Forum gathering.    

The other three panelists were NATO chief John Stoltenberg, Afghanistan's President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore Tharman Shanmugatnam.  Espen Barth Eide, managing director of the World Economic Forum, oversaw the panel's discussion as the session's chairman. 

Responding to a question that touched on the overall military situation in the Asia Pacific, Carter remarked that China is not the only nation in the region that is building its military capabilities.

"India is a rising military power.  Japan, if you haven't noticed, is a rising military power, and there are others who are doing things," Carter said, adding that Vietnam and the Philippines have also begun to address their respective national defense requirements.

Carter stressed the importance of peace and stability in the South China Sea, and said the US opposes the militarization of the territory.

"We oppose all of that," he said. "And for our part, we have said everybody -- not just China, but everybody who is doing that -- should stop and not militarize."

Speaking about Washington's plans for the contentious region, Carter said the US will continue to do what it has always done.

"We will fly, we will sail, we will operate everywhere international law permits in the South China Sea," said Carter.

TagsTerritorial disputes in the South China Sea, World Economic Forum, ashton carter