Washington: US lawmakers on Wednesday accused China of bullying its neighbours to press territorial claims in the South China Sea but also raised questions about America's capacity to police the region.
Three congressional panels this week are scrutinising what they consider to be the security threat posed by China and its human rights record.
With the US presidential election two months away, Republican contender Mitt Romney has accused Barack Obama of being soft on China, particularly on trade issues, as he has tried to cultivate ties with the emerging superpower. But criticism dished out by members of the House Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday was directed squarely at Beijing.
The committee's Republican chair, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, dubbed China a "schoolyard bully towards its maritime neighbours" that aspired to be the dominant power in Asia, controlling vital sea lanes that could be used to choke off commerce and oil shipments. She said the US would stand by its allies, the Philippines and Japan.
"Other global crises must not distract from our vital national interests in the South China Sea and the western Pacific," she told a hearing addressing the issue.
Top Democrat Howard Berman said the Obama administration has repeatedly made clear to Beijing that the US will not allow China to assert hegemony over the region. He said the US must continue to press China to resolve its claims peacefully.
China and five of its neighbours, including the Philippines and Vietnam, have overlapping claims to several small, but potentially energy-rich areas of the South China Sea, that have become an increasing focus of bickering and confrontation. In July, China upped the ante when it created a city and military garrison on a remote island to strengthen its control over disputed islands.
The United States criticised that as undermining efforts to manage and resolve disputes through diplomacy. That angered China, which says it has no aggressive intent.
The US, which remains the world's predominant military power, says it does not take a position on the competing territorial claims, but has a national security interest in the maintenance of peace and stability in the region.
On Tuesday it urged "cooler heads to prevail" in a separate island dispute between Japan and China in the East China Sea.
Also on Wednesday, a House panel was due to examine allegations of human organs of religious and political dissidents being harvested by Chinese authorities.
On Thursday, the House Intelligence Committee will question executives of two major Chinese technology companies as it probes allegations that the firms' involvement in the US market could pose a national security risk.
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