The United States, Australia and Japan today criticised Beijing's island-building and militarisation of the South China Sea, in contrast to the increasingly tepid response from Southeast Asian nations over the issue.<br/>China claims nearly all of the sea, through which 5 trillion US dollar in annual shipping trade passes and which is believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits.<br/>Its assertion overlap with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, all members of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc,<br/>as well as Taiwan.