HONOLULU (AP) — China should act like a regional leader and help resolve territorial disputes in the South China Sea without coercion instead of raising tensions, the head of American forces in Asia and the Pacific said Thursday. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei claim parts of the South China Sea, dotted with tiny islands and home to key shipping lanes, rich fishing grounds and valuable oil and gas deposits. Taiwan shares an overlapping claim with China to the entire area but has taken no steps to assert it. Locklear cited a series of steps Beijing has taken to sharpen the dispute, including sending an oil rig into waters near Vietnam, the dredging of disputed islands and reefs, new laws governing disputed areas and "their lack of desire to go forward with international law forums."