Story highlights Warning comes after an international tribunal ruled against China's South China Sea claims

U.S. says close calls between U.S. and Chinese warships growing more frequent

Secretary of State John Kerry says U.S. does not take sides in territorial dispute

Washington (CNN) The U.S. will continue freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea, a senior Navy officer says, as the region continues to react to a landmark Hague ruling on territorial claims in the disputed waters.

The Obama administration has made it "absolutely clear" to China that the U.S. will continue engaging in flights and naval activities in the disputed waters despite objections from Beijing, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said Tuesday.

This month, an international tribunal in the Hague deemed the bulk of China's territorial claims in the South China Sea to have no legal basis under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The case was brought by a fellow South China Sea claimant, the Philippines. China immediately dismissed the court decision as "null and void" and said it would not affect its claims.

U.S. 'does not take a position'

Speaking in Vientiane, Laos, following the ASEAN Regional Forum, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that the peaceful settlement of disputes in the South China Sea is "absolutely critical."

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