On May 19, the Foreign Ministry confirmed that two days earlier, two Chinese military aircraft followed and monitored a US Navy EP-3 plane that was conducting reconnaissance close to Hainan Island. On May 10, the US guided-missile destroyer William P. Lawrence entered waters near Yongshu Island.

Nonetheless, such friction has been accompanied by cooperation between the two countries.

Among other interaction and dialogue, Beijing confirmed it has accepted Washington's invitation to take part in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise this year, and high-level diplomats of the two countries held the Strategic Security Dialogue in Washington on Thursday.

Teng Jianqun, director of the Department for American Studies of the China Institute of International Studies, said bilateral competition and cooperation have strengthened in the fields of security and trade.

The coming talks are "a very necessary channel" for the two countries to step out of what he called "a security dilemma" in the region, Teng said.

(China Daily USA 05/24/2016 page3)