(30.05.) The United States will continue to lead in the Asia-Pacific region, but the methods will change, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said here.

Hagel spoke to the annual Asia Security Summit sponsored by the International Institute of Strategic Studies tonight U.S. time, tomorrow morning Singapore time. It was Hagel’s second trip to the summit, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, and his fifth trip to the region since becoming defense secretary. (…)

The South China Sea is a prime example. The sea is “the beating heart of the Asia-Pacific and a crossroads for the global economy,” Hagel said, and China has undertaken destabilizing, unilateral actions asserting its claims there.

The United States has been clear and consistent in response, Hagel noted. “We take no position on competing territorial claims,” he said. “But we firmly oppose any nation’s use of intimidation, coercion, or the threat of force to assert these claims. We also oppose any effort — by any nation — to restrict overflight or freedom of navigation, whether from military or civilian vessels [or] from countries big or small.”