China on Thursday slammed US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter's visit to a US aircraft carrier in the South China Sea and urged the US to be more candid and honest about its actions and intentions.

"The Chinese side respects and safeguards all countries' freedom of navigation and overflight guaranteed by international law. As long as it is the genuine practice of freedom of navigation through real international shipping lanes, we will in no way oppose it," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying on Thursday in a daily brief.

"What we are against is the attempt to militarize the South China Sea and even challenge and threaten other countries' sovereignty and security interests under the name of freedom of navigation. It is hoped that the US side can be more candid and honest about its actions and intentions," Hua said.

Carter on Thursday flew to the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the South China Sea, and said while aboard the ship that "there's a lot of concern about Chinese behavior out here," the AFP reported.

He described the vessel's presence as "a sign of the critical role that the US military power plays in what is a very consequential region for the American future," said the AFP report.

Carter's move is seen by many as part of a US plan to conduct regular incursions in the South China Sea. Analysts believe that the move has obvious intentions to cozy up to some ASEAN countries in an effort to side with them against its imaginary opponent, China.

Failed statement

Carter reiterated on Wednesday that the US calls for a peaceful resolution to the tensions in the South China Sea, according to the US Department of Defense.

"The US is saying one thing and doing another," Liu Feng, a maritime expert, told the Global Times.

Liu said that if the US truly wants to solve disputes peacefully, their warships should stay away from the South China Sea and put more efforts into boosting economic ties and exploring cooperation instead of provoking regional tensions.

Carter's boarding of the aircraft carrier comes a day after the failure to produce a joint statement at a Southeast Asian defense summit on Wednesday, which was reportedly due to disagreement between China and the US over wording related to the South China Sea.

China's defense ministry said Wednesday that "some individual countries outside the region ignored the existing consensus and attempted to forcefully add into the declaration contents not discussed during the meeting." 

 "The US move is clearly driven by its interest. But a wiser move would be to seek cooperation with China," Chen Xiangmiao, a research fellow with the National Institute for the South China Sea, told the Global Times.

Jia Xiudong, a senior research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, wrote in a commentary published in the People's Daily, a flagship newspaper under the Communist Party of China, that US speculation that a rising China would eventually drive the US out of Asia is "groundless."

"No ASEAN country wishes to choose between China and the US. If the US purposely invoke conflicts in the region … its actions will very likely backfire," Jia wrote.

The US destroyer USS Lassen sailed within 12 nautical miles of Zhubi Reef on October 27, and a defense official said the mission, which lasted a few hours, passed by Meiji Reef, which China claims as part of the Nansha Islands, Reuters reported.

The US Navy plans to conduct similar patrols about twice a quarter or "a little more than that" to "remind China and other countries about US rights under international law," a US defense official was quoted anonymously by Reuters as saying on Monday.