Senior China and United States officials continued to clash about the recent incident over the South China Sea, when a Chinese fighter jet intercepted a U.S. Navy surveillance plane. The U.S. had earlier filed a diplomatic protest, calling the Chinese jet's actions "dangerous" and "unprofessional," and China had countered by calling on the U.S. to stop surveillance activities near China.

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Speaking with senior Chinese officials while on a three-day visit to Beijing, U.S. National Security Adviser said China must stop its dangerous intercepts of U.S. aircraft. NSC sources say the message was repeated during Rice's meetings with China's defense and foreign ministry leaders, and finally with Chinese president Xi Jinping  on Tuesday.

The issue appeared to be one of the few contentious issues Rice discussed with Chinese officials, as she lay the groundwork for a visit by President Barack Obama to Beijing in November.

Meeting on Tuesday with General Fan Changlong, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission and considered the country's top military leader, Rice said the two countries "need to avoid any incidents that could complicate the relationship."

In her opening remarks, Rice spoke about military relationships between the U.S. and China having grown and strengthened.

"It is an area of cooperation that the United States values," Rice said.

Officials accompanying Rice refused to characterize Fan's response, but China's official news agency Xinhua reported that Fan urged the U.S. to "reduce and ultimately stop" what he referred to as "close-in reconnaissance" by U.S. air and naval assets.

The Chinese official also urged the U.S.  and China to "control their disputes properly," according to the Xinhua report.

"We hope the U.S. can promote the healthy development of new China-U.S. military ties with concrete actions," Fan had said.

In August, Washington complained about a Chinese fighter jet that flew too close to a U.S. Navy plane in international air space. The Pentagon said the Chinese jet flew just a few yards away, and even performed acrobatic maneuvers around the U.S. plane.

Beijing defended the Chinese pilot's actions saying he had done nothing wrong, at the same time saying that U.S. surveillance activities were harming China's national security interests.

ashington had reminded Beijing then of a more serious incident in April 2001, when a Chinese jet collided with a U.S. aircraft in the same area. The collision killed the Chinese pilot, and the U.S. plane was forced to land on Hainan Island, where Chinese authorities detained the 24 crewmembers for 11 days. 

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