The remarks by US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter about South China Sea, made at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday, were counterproductive to managing the disputes and maintaining stability in the waters.

In his speech delivered at the security forum, the US defense chief time and again pointed an accusing finger at China's island building activities in the Nansha Islands, saying the United States was "deeply concerned" about China's land reclamation and the prospect of further militarization of the islands, which, the US believes, would boost "the risk of miscalculation or conflict".

In fact, it is the US meddling in the South China Sea that is heightening the possibility of strategic miscalculation in the waters and raised the prospect of conflict.