WASHINGTON (AP) " A landmark international tribunal ruling on the South China Sea threatens to sharpen the differences between from the United States and China, exposing a growing gulf between the world powers. The two both spoke at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, and their comments reflected how the South China Sea is increasingly the spoiler in relations between the U.S. and China. Daniel Kritenbrink, the White House policy director for Asia, said Monday's ruling in the case brought by the Philippines was "an important contribution to the shared goal of a peaceful resolution to disputes in the South China Sea." Unsurprisingly, China was less sanguine, as the ruling rejected the legal basis of China's expansive territorial claims. But at the same time, tensions have grown over China's land reclamation in the South China Sea, where it has created artificial islands with military facilities, viewed by the U.S. as an attempt to gain effective control of the area.

Source: New Zealand Herald July 13, 2016 00:56 UTC