With United States Admiral Harry Harris on Wednesday pitching for the US, India, Japan and Australia to initiate a quadrilateral security dialogue, China has responded warily to the move, warning that it "should not be targeted against a third party".

Speaking in New Delhi, Adm. Harris, who heads the US Pacific Command, called for closer maritime security cooperation between the four countries, while apparently hitting out at China's recent moves in the South China Sea.

"Last year, India hosted Japan and Australia for its first ever high-level trilateral dialogue in New Delhi," Harris said at the Raisina Dialogue. "Some of the topics discussed were maritime security - including freedom of navigation patrols - and trilateral cooperation in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. An idea to consider is perhaps expanding this trilateral to a quadrilateral venue between India-Japan-Australia and the United States. We are all united in supporting the international rules-based order that has kept the peace and is essential to all of us."

China has in the past expressed strong reservations at the idea, viewing a quadrilateral security dialogue as a 'front' to 'contain' China. Such reservations have in the past even made both India and Australia wary of going ahead with the dialogue, although the US and Japan have long pressed for it. Whether China's recent moves in the South China Sea, which have worried both India and Australia over freedom of navigation, will prompt a rethink remains unclear.

Asked for a response to the US Admiral's call, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said in Beijing, "We have no objection to relevant countries' normal cooperation, but we believe that relevant cooperation should not be targeted against a third party."

The US Admiral also announced that this year's Exercise Malabar with India will once again include Japan, and that the three countries' naval drills will take place in the northern Philippine Sea, which is close to the South China sea. The exercise last year took place in the Bay of Bengal, with Japan included after being kept out for more than five years reportedly because of Beijing's discomfort.

The exercises being held in the Philippines Sea - located east of the South China Sea - will likely anger Beijing, coming against the backdrop of rising tensions between China and the US over recent "freedom of navigation operations" (FONOPs) aimed at challenging Beijing's claims.

Adm. Harris on Wednesday seemingly hit out at Beijing, referring to moves to reclaim islands and reefs and to build infrastructure, including runways, as creating "castles of sand".

"While some countries seek to bully smaller nations through intimidation and coercion, I note with admiration India's example of peaceful resolution of disputes with your neighbours in the waters of the Indian Ocean," he said. "India, indeed, stands like a beacon on a hill, building a future on the power of ideas? not on castles of sand that threaten the rules-based architecture that has served us all so very well."

Asked about plans for this year's exercises to be held in the Philippine Sea near the South China Sea, Hong, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said, "We hope that cooperation among relevant countries will be conducive to regional peace and stability as well as security, instead of harming interests of a third party."

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