WASHINGTON - US military officials met their Chinese counterparts earlier this week for a series of meetings in Hawaii focused on how the two countries can operate safely, US officials said on April 5.

US President Joe Biden sought to manage tensions over the South China Sea in a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on April 2.

The two leaders had agreed to resume direct military talks when they met in November.

In a statement, the US military said officials from both countries “reviewed safety-related events over the last few years, and discussed sustaining maritime and aviation operational safety and professionalism”.

China’s Defence Ministry said in a separate statement published on April 6 that at the meetings, the two sides conducted candid and constructive exchanges on the China-US maritime and air security situation.

At the meetings, China also firmly opposed any attempt to endanger its sovereignty and security in the name of freedom of navigation and overflight, the ministry said.

The talks, known as the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement working group, took place on April 3 and 4 in Honolulu, and were the first such meeting since 2021.

Prior to the November meeting between Mr Biden and Mr Xi, relations between the superpowers had become increasingly acrimonious, with friction over issues from Taiwan to China’s military activity in the South China Sea.

In October, the US military said Chinese military aircraft had carried out risky or reckless manoeuvres close to US aircraft nearly 200 times since 2021. REUTERS