China's vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission Fan Changlong told visiting Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the United States Pacific Command, to "stop wrongdoings and dangerous moves" in the South China Sea and to avoid "misunderstanding, misjudgment and unpredictable incidents".
"Greater power comes with greater responsibility," Fan said to Harris during his opening remarks in the People's Liberation Army's headquarters on Tuesday afternoon. He was referring to the fact that last year, when the two met in Qingdao, Shandong province, for a China-US mechanism to avoid conflicts when aircraft or warships have unexpected encounters, Harris was commander of the Pacific fleet, a rank below his current position.
Harris reiterated in his meeting with Fan that he hoped to "strengthen the cooperation and communication" between the two nations' militaries and push for a "continuous development" of the military relations.
He added that, despite the two countries' differences in some realms, cooperation and dialogue are "positive and effective".