US Vice-President Joe Biden will convey to China US concerns over its declaration of an air defence zone over disputed islands in the East China Sea, the White House has said.
On a long-planned trip to Asia next week, he will also visit Japan and South Korea, the White House said. On Saturday, China declared aircraft crossing the zone must obey its rules or face"emergency defensive measures".
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel called the move "potentially destabilizing".
On Wednesday, Mr Hagel reaffirmed that a longstanding mutual defence treaty with Japan also applies to the disputed East China Sea islands at the heart of the tension between China and Japan.
The islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, have been a sore point between the two Asian powers for decades.
The new air zone, announced by China on Saturday, overlaps with an air zone set out by Japan and covers islands that Japan controls.
Japan has already lodged a strong protest over what it said was an "escalation" by China.
Mr Hagel spoke with Japan Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera, commending the Japanese government for "exercising appropriate restraint" in the wake of China's decision to declare the air defence identification zone.He also "assured Minister Onodera that US military operations will not in any way change as a result of China's announcement, noting that recent routine and long-planned US flight operations have already occurred as normal", a Pentagon spokesman said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Mr Biden will embark on 2 December on a week-long diplomatic mission to discuss what a senior Obama administration official called "an emerging pattern of behaviour by China that is unsettling to China's own neighbours and raising questions about how China operates in international space and how China deals with areas of disagreement".
"The visit to China creates an opportunity for the vice-president to discuss directly with policymakers in Beijing this issue, to convey our concerns directly and to seek clarity regarding the Chinese intentions in making this move at this time," the official said, referring to China's declaration.
In its statement announcing the air defence zone, the Chinese defence ministry said aircraft crossing the zone must report a flight plan,"maintain two-way radio communications", and "respond in a timely and accurate manner"to identification inquiries.
"China's armed forces will adopt defensive emergency measures to respond to aircraft thatdo not co-operate in the identification or refuseto follow the instructions," the statement said.
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