SINGAPORE, May 30 -- China on Saturday dismissed here U. S. views on the South China Seaas incomplete and lack of jurisprudential evidence.

The dismissal came after U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said in his keynote speech to the ongoing Shangri-La dialogue that his country would continue to fly, sail, and operate in the region wherever international law allows.

Carter also called for "an immediate and lasting halt to land reclamation by all claimants" in the South China Sea.

In response, Rear Admiral Guan Youfei, director of Foreign Affairs Office of China's National Defense Ministry, said "Freedom of navigation should be for the benefits of economic development, rather than sending military aircraft and vessels everywhere" .

China has been exercising restraint on the South China Sea issue and the United Statesshould treat the South China Sea issue with a more objective way, Guan added.

Organized by the London-based think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), the Shangri-La Dialogue brings together defense chiefs from 26 nations here as well as security experts to exchange views on key issues that shape the defense and security landscape of the region.