US Defense chief: China military buildup in disputed waters 'coercion, intimidation'

SINGAPORE -- China's military buildup in the South China Sea and its deployment of high-end weapons systems in the disputed waterway is designed to intimidate and coerce neighbors, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Saturday.

Speaking at a high-profile security summit in Singapore, the Pentagon chief also said the US military would continue to support diplomats pushing for the "complete, verifiable and irreversible" denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.