(Reuters) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Sunday (May 17).
Kerry is on a two-day visit to China officially to advance U.S. priorities ahead of the Strategic and Economic dialogue in Washington later in the year and President Xi’s visit to Washington in September.
On Saturday (May 16), Kerry met with senior Chinese officials including Premier Li Keqiang and his counterpart Foreign Minister Wang Yi. After a private meeting with Kerry, Wang reasserted China’s claims in the South China Sea despite Kerry’s urging China to take action to reduce tensions in the region.
China’s rapid reclamation effort around seven reefs in the Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea has alarmed other claimants such as the Philippines and Vietnam.
At the same time, China has expressed its concern about a possible U.S. plan to send military aircraft and ships to assert freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
The South China Sea dispute is the latest source of friction between the world’s two biggest economies, which have sparred over everything from trade and human rights to exchanges of accusations of hacking.
Despite this, the two countries continue to cooperate in many areas such as climate change, North Korea and Iran.
Kerry departs for Seoul later on Sunday where he will meet President Park Geun-hye and Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se to discuss a range of “global, regional, and bilateral” issues, according to a statement on the U.S. Department of State’s official website.