Blinken says China military actions unjustified

STORY: China has been conducting the largest-ever military exercises in the Taiwan Strait in response to the U.S. house speaker's visit to the island, including launching live missiles it claims as part of its sovereign territory.

Blinken said the United States has made it repeatedly clear to China it does not seek a crisis, adding that Washington and its allies were seriously concerned by its latest actions.

"There is no justification for this extreme, disproportionate and escalatory military response," Blinken told a news conference on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting. Blinken did not meet with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during the regional summit.

"The differences between the mainland and Taiwan need to be resolved peacefully. Not coercively and not by force, so it is incumbent upon China to continue to resolves those differences peacefully," Blinken said after Friday's East Asia Summit.