China rejected calls from the US and the Philippines for countries to refrain from “provocative actions” that would raise tension in the South China Sea where it has taken an increasingly assertive stance in pursuing sovereignty claims over disputed islands.

“Someone has been exaggerating or even playing up the so-called tension in the South China Sea,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a press conference at a foreign ministers’ meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Saturday. “We do not agree with such a practice, and we call for vigilance in the motives behind them.”

Mr Wang characterised the proposal by John Kerry, US secretary of state, and a similar one from Albert Del Rosario, Philippine foreign minister, as “setting up a separate kitchen”, saying it was unnecessary given an agreement last year in which China and its neighbours agreed to talk about a code of conduct for the South China Sea.