An MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter lands on the flight deck of the guided-missile destroyer USS Chung Hoon last week in the Philippine Sea

Pacific Fleet officials say the United States has routinely patrolled the Pacific, including the South China Sea, for decades and has no intention of easing up.

"Talking about militarisation, if we look at those advance ships and aircraft exiting from and entering into the South China Sea aren't the majority of them from the United States?"

Chinese officials were quick to dismiss such claims. If we're talking about militarization, what's this?

"The U.S. has said it doesn't take a stance on South China Sea territorial disputes but its actions seem to be aimed at agitating tensions, which raise serious questions over its motives".

China has created islands with military-grade runways and missile-defense hardware on islands claimed by Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei. The destroyers Chung-Hoon and Stockade are also in the region along with the USS Blue Ridge, the command ship for the 7th Fleet, which is en route to the Philippines.

A Pacific Fleet spokesman downplayed the heavy USA presence in the region.

Beijing, however, rejects the allegations and accuses Washington of meddling in the regional issues and deliberately stirring up tensions in the South China Sea.

Admiral Harry Harris, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, accused Beijing of militarizing the South China Sea in a testimony before Congress on February 24. It is not clear if, or when, any of the ships now operating there might conduct similar freedom-of-navigation manoeuvres.

Fu Ying said the USA was massively escalating its military level in the region and American patrols near Chinese-held islands in the South China Sea were raising tensions.

The US Navy (USN) invited the Indian Navy (IN) on 2 March to undertake joint operations with it in the Asia-Pacific region and advocated the establishment of a "quad-lateral" alliance with the Australian and Japanese navies to ensure free and open sea lanes of communication in the area.

She said most Chinese lawmakers and ordinary people are not pleased and do not agree with the USA showing off military power by sending warships to waters close to the South China Sea islands and reefs. It comes in response to China's dispatch of several ships earlier this week to ward off Filipino fishermen from utilizing commonly shared fishing areas, the Quirino Atoll. Why does the U.S. go towards confrontation with China? China is also adding cutting-edge frigates, destroyers and nuclear submarines and by some estimates has been launching more vessels than any other nation on an annual basis. "If America cares about the peace and stability in the region, please support China to solve the disputes through negotiations, instead of pushing it to the opposite side".