Beijing: In a major step to de-escalate tensions, China and the United States on Wednesday agreed to avoid military confrontations in high seas that have the potential to spark an international crisis, a top Chinese army official said.
The spate of confrontations in the volatile South China Sea over the past year, was the centre of the first high-level military dialogue between the two countries held after a break of 18 months, Xinhua quoted a Chinese military official as saying.
Chinese and American naval warships have had a series of near encounters in the South China Sea, which had the potential of sparking a major crisis between them. Recently, a Chinese sub-marine was in near collision with a Sonar detection device deployed by an American warship.
The military leaders from the two sides also took up the issue of North Korea's recent testing of nuclear devices and firing of long-range missiles.
People's Liberation Army deputy chief of staff Lt Gen Ma Xiaotian said Beijing had opposed US surveillance patrols in the South China Sea during his two-day talks with a US delegation led by undersecretary for defence Michele Flournoy.
"Our two sides agreed to work together to avoid such incidents as these will have negative impact on our bilateral relations," the Chinese official told a news conference after the talks.