US Defence Secretary Ash Carter reviews troops at the closing ceremony of the 11-day joint US-Philippines military exercise dubbed "Balikatan 2016" (Shoulder-To-Shoulder 2016) last week. Photo: AP

Beijing: US Defence Secretary Ash Carter ramped up the tension over China's territorial claims in the South China Sea with a Friday visit to a US aircraft carrier in the disputed waters right after a top People's Liberation Army general inspected facilities nearby.

Mr Carter's trip to the USS John C. Stennis signalled that the Obama administration has decided to lean more heavily on military power to counter China's territorial ambitions in the region, while the visit by a top Chinese general appeared intended to show China's determination to ward off any challenges to its claims over the Spratly Islands, which are also the subject of claims by the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan. China calls them the Nansha Islands.

An FA-18 jet fighter lands on the USS John C. Stennis, aircraft carrier in the South China Sea on Friday. Photo: AP

According to China's Ministry of National Defense on Friday, the People's Liberation Army's most senior uniformed military commander, Fan Changlong, recently visited the disputed islands.

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General Fan appears to have been the highest-ranking People's Liberation Army officer ever to visit the Spratly group, a sprawling collection of islands that extends close to the Philippines.

General Fan led a delegation to the "relevant Nansha Islands to offer good wishes to officers and personnel stationed there, and also to understand the construction of facilities on the islands", said a brief statement from the Ministry of National Defense.

Chinese General Fan Changlong. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

General Fan is a vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, the council that runs the People's Liberation Army forces. He is outranked only by the chairman, Xi Jinping, who is also President of China and head of the country's Communist Party. Under Mr Xi, the Chinese military has accelerated efforts to secure domination of islands also claimed by south-east Asian countries.

The growing reach of the Chinese navy, and the rival claims of other Asian powers, have turned the Spratlys and other islands across the South China Sea into a volatile mosaic of disputes. In past decades, Chinese military and civilian leaders have visited the Paracel Islands, which are closer to the Chinese mainland.

China claims sovereignty over much of the sea, but it faces not only rival claims from south-east Asian countries but also growing wariness from Washington and its allies. They say that Beijing is risking a dangerous escalation of regional tensions by expanding barren reefs and outcrops into artificial islands and by installing military outposts, lighthouses, airstrips and other infrastructure on islands under its control.

Friday's visit by Mr Carter, part of a six-day visit to India and the Philippines, seemed likely to draw ire from Beijing, which says that Washington should play no part in trying to settle the territorial disputes in the South China Sea. It has criticised operations by US Navy ships that have passed close by islands controlled by China.

Some analysts warn that China could react to Washington's moves by taking more aggressive actions, challenging America's commitment to the region and raising the risk of a military conflict.

The Chinese have been closely watching Mr Carter's tour, which had included a stop in Beijing before it was abruptly scrubbed from the schedule a few weeks ago. In a late-night statement on Thursday, the Chinese Defense Ministry accused the United States of reverting to a "Cold War mentality" and said the Chinese military would "pay close attention to the situation and resolutely defend China's territorial sovereignty and maritime interests".

The Obama administration has declined to describe its approach toward China as a revival of "containment", the Cold War strategy aimed at preventing the spread of communism. Instead, Carter said the new military initiatives in the region were consistent with long-standing American policy to work closely with countries that share its interests.

"America's policy continues to be one valued on principles of peaceful resolutions of disputes, lawful settlement of things like territorial disputes like the South China Sea, or anywhere else, freedom of navigation, freedom of commerce," he said. "These are all things the United States stands for."

New York Times