Calm tensions over South China Sea: ALP

Australia should help defuse tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea, Labor says.

Defence Minister Kevin Andrews has joined the United States in expressing strong concerns about China's reclamation program.

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek told ABC radio on Monday it is crucial that trade be able to move through the important shipping region and cautioned it was vital that the language used calmed rather than inflamed tensions.

Labor has asked the government for a briefing on matters in the South China Sea and Australia's approach, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten told reporters in Canberra.