Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop and Defense Minister Marise Payne met with US Secretary of State John Kerry and US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter Tuesday in Boston for talks about maintaining peace and stability in the oceans around China.
While the Australians pledged enhanced naval co-operation with the United States, they stopped short of committing to take part in any American ventures into territory China claims as its own.
Washington has dismissed China's territorial claims, saying the US Navy will continue to operate wherever international law allows.
Last week, Payne said Australia will oppose "intimidation" and "aggression" in the South China Sea.
The Chinese embassy in Australia hit back on Wednesday, saying Payne's comments on the South China Sea were "neither responsible or constructive."
"We urge the relevant sides to stop applying [a] double standard. It would be more helpful if they would honour their commitment of not taking sides on relevant disputes and do more to promote regional peace and security … rather than light a fire and add fuel to the flames," the embassy spokesman said.
The United States reportedly is anticipated to send ships soon to waters inside the 12-nautical-mile zones that China claims as territory around islands it has built in the Spratly chain.
Payne and Carter signed a joint statement on defense cooperation, which included enhancing the interoperability of their military forces, intelligence cooperation and building cooperation with regional partners, the Australian Financial Review reports.
Canberra supports Washington's "freedom of navigation" exercise to challenge China, but the naval cooperation announced on Tuesday does not extend to Australian ships or naval bases being used to launch such a mission, AFR reports.
Instead, the naval agreement largely reiterates plans to ramp up joint training and exercises, with precise details absent at time of the announcement and subject to further discussions between officials.
China's territorial claims in the South China Sea overlap with the claims of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
