The top diplomats of the U.S. and China say they are hopeful of reaching agreement soon on a U.N. resolution to punish North Korea after its recent nuclear test and rocket launch.

China's South China Sea military deployments are no different from U.S. deployments on Hawaii, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday, striking a combative tone ahead of a visit by Foreign Minister Wang Yi to the United States this week.

The United States rejected a North Korean proposal to discuss a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War because it did not address denuclearization on the peninsula, the State Department said on Sunday.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will hold talks this week in Washington to discuss how to deal with North Korea's latest nuclear test and launch of a long-range rocket, China's foreign ministry said Monday.

The commander of the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said Monday that he is wary of the situation in the South China Sea being painted as a battle between the United States and China, but added the presence of a Chinese missile system on a disputed island will not stop the U.S. military from flying over the region.

Australia and New Zealand on Friday strongly urged China to refrain from stoking tensions in the South China Sea after its apparent deployment of surface-to-air missiles on a disputed island.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday the United States expects to have "very serious" talks with China about militarization of the South China Sea after reports that Beijing deployed advanced surface-to-air missiles to a disputed island.

Reports that China has deployed an advanced surface-to-air missile system to one of the disputed islands it controls in the South China Sea have been created by certain Western media, the country's foreign minister said on Wednesday.

China appears to have deployed surface-to-air missiles on a disputed island in the South China Sea, say reports.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he and leaders of Southeast Asian countries discussed the need to ease tensions in the South China Sea, and agreed that any territorial disputes there should be resolved peacefully and through legal means.