Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong has warned that the United States poses the biggest military threat in the South China Sea, with its weapons deployment turning the region into "the whirlpool of an arms race." Sun's comments, published on Sunday, emphasized Beijing's willingness to resolve territorial disputes in the South China Sea through dialogue.

Sun, who recently attended a high-level meeting on East Asian cooperation in Laos, accused US-led forces of promoting military deployment and actions in the region, inciting maritime disputes, and damaging the legitimate rights and interests of coastal countries. He specifically criticized the US move to deploy medium-range missile systems, stating it drags the region into an arms race and places the entire Asia Pacific under the shadow of geopolitical conflicts.

Despite the tensions, Sun reiterated Beijing's commitment to managing its territorial disputes through dialogue. In the meantime, China has deployed hundreds of coast guard vessels up to 1,000 km off its coasts to guard its claimed territories in the South China Sea.

The US military, under the guise of joint exercises with regional allies and the pretext of "freedom of navigation," maintains a significant presence in the strategically important South China Sea, a conduit for over $3 trillion in annual ship commerce. This has turned the international waters into a potential flashpoint.

In a meeting with US allies in April, the Philippines announced plans to assert its sovereign rights in the South China Sea and criticized what it described as Beijing’s aggressive policies and harassment. In response, China blamed the Philippines' expansionist policies for the dispute, insisting it will not allow violations of Chinese territorial waters or secession of any Chinese lands.

The United States has consistently taken sides with countries opposing Beijing in these territorial disputes, further intensifying the geopolitical tensions in the region.