The incoming U.S. Pacific commander said on Thursday he would stick to his predecessor's strategy of strengthening military relations with China and other east Asian nations despite tensions over territories in the South China Sea.

U.S. Navy Admiral Harry B. Harris Jr., who will sit as the first Asian-American commander of the Hawaii-based U.S. Pacific Command, said China has been stoking tensions with neighbors in the South China Sea, pushing some of them to ally with the U.S. for security.

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Harris said predictability and stability in disputed areas top the list of U.S. concerns and it is looking to build better ties with east Asian nations independently of China.

He added the biggest security threat to Asia is North Korea, which is ruled by what he called a totally ruthless strongman who is on a mission to make nuclear arms and to spread them across continents.

The Navy admiral has visited 19 Pacific rim countries this year as part of capacity building initiatives with partners like the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore.

While regional tensions simmered down in recent weeks, Vietnam and China are still at odds over a Chinese oil rig built in waters claimed by Hanoi and Beijing.

China insisted on an Air Defense Identification Zone in 2013 that was supposed to check the flight plans of aircraft flying over disputed parts of the East China Sea. Beijing has also reclaimed land and built structures on contested shoals in the South China Sea, parts of which are claimed by the Philippines and Vietnam.

Harris called China's decision to place an air defense identification zone as not the fitting behavior of a great country and praised the Philippines for contesting China's claim over maritime territory before a United Nations arbitral tribunal.

But he stressed that the U.S. seeks to build its military relationship with China as one of cooperation. Harris said it's not about the U.S. versus China but about the U.S., China and other nations working together to improve the prosperity and stability of the whole region.