The United States should stop intervention in the South China Sea issue to safeguard peace, stability and security in the region, Karunasena Hettiarachchi, Sri Lanka's secretary to the Ministry of Defence, told Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua.

In an interview with Xinhua on Tuesday, Hettiarachchi said the United States should stop polarizing some ally countries to isolate China and any attempt to draw or divide between countries will undermine the peace, stability and security in the Asia Pacific region.

"The countries concerned should come to the negotiation table to discuss and listen to each other on how to solve the South China Sea disputes."

"As we all know that China is a country that loves peace so much," he noted.

The secretary said during his trip to the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore weeks ago, he met defense secretaries of some countries and reached agreement with them on a wide range of issues such as cooperation opportunities and goodwill to maintain regional security.

Hettiarachchi said that he held the same view that the South China Sea issue has been hyped up by some countries outside the region.

The Philippines unilaterally initiated an arbitration from an international tribunal over the South China Sea disputes in 2013.

The Chinese government has reiterated its non-acceptance and non-participation stance in the case, Xinhua said.

(With inputs from Xinhua)