Chinese media tells US to "shut up" over South China Sea tensions

BEIJING (REUTERS) - China's state-run media ramped up condemnation of the United States (US) on Monday over tensions in the South China Sea, with the Communist Party's top newspaper telling Washington to "shut up" and charging it with "fanning flames" of divison in the region.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry condemned a US State Department statement that said Washington was closely monitoring territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and that China's establishment of a military garrison for the area risks"further escalating tensions in the region".

The mosaic of rival territorial claims in the South China Sea has become Asia's worst potential military flashpoint.

Beijing has said its disputes with Vietnam, the Philippines and other south-east Asian claimants should be settled one-on-one, and it has bristled at US backing for a multilateral approach to solving the overlapping claims.