The Pentagon on Tuesday said China’s decision to test-fire missiles in the South China Sea was “disturbing” and a U.S. official told Reuters that multiple anti-ship ballistic missiles employed in the test.

The U.S. has in the past denounced Beijing on what it sees as an effort to militarize man-made outposts in the region.

“I’m not going to speak on behalf of all the sovereign nations in the region, but I’m sure they agree that the PRC’s behavior is contrary to its claim to want to bring peace to the region and obviously actions like this are coercive acts meant to intimidate other (South China Sea) claimants,” Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn, a Pentagon spokesperson told Reuters.

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China considers control of the South China Sea as crucial to its foreign trade routes and aspirations to surpass the U.S. as the dominant military power in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Associated Press contributed to this report