China Says it Stopped Building Islands in South China Sea

China claims to have stopped its efforts to build artificial islands in the contested Spratly Islands of the South China Sea as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry beseeched China to stop the reclamation works, calling them "problematic."

Reuters reports that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi asserted China had halted its reclamation efforts at a Kuala Lumpur conference with other nations who have claims to the waters and land masses in the region. At the same time Yi said China would no longer make artificial islands via land reclamation, he also said that China would continue to build structures on these islands, rebuffing U.S. requests for a halt to such construction.

China has reportedly established military installations on some of these islands, including an air strip long enough to accommodate every aircraft of the Chinese air force. Vietnam is also involved in their own reclamation efforts, but they have not progressed as quickly as China's and they are also not on as large a scale.

Other countries with claims to the region include Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Singapore, and Malaysia.

At the same Kuala Lumpur conference, U.S. Secretary of State described China's behavior as "problematic," according to The New York Times. China has created 2,000 acres of land from its dredging efforts.

Kerry and Wang later met in private to discuss the issue, which has severely strained the relationship between both economic giants. As China was working on these projects, the United States stepped up naval and aerial patrols to keep an eye on the activity and try to deter other countries from joining in or escalating the situation.