China to keep military ties with US on track of stable, sound, sustainable development: spokesman

China is willing to work with the U.S. side to maintain the stable, sound and sustainable development of military-to-military relations, a Chinese defense spokesman said on Thursday.

Jiang Bin, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, made the comments as Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a three-day state visit to the United States at the invitation of U.S. President Donald Trump. The trip follows Trump's state visit to China in May, the first by a U.S. president in nearly nine years.

"Head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic guiding role in the relations between China and the United States and between the two militaries. We are willing to work with the U.S. side to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state concerning the military issues, strengthen communication and dialogue, carry out practical cooperation, and properly manage differences, so as to maintain the stable, sound and sustainable development of military-to-military relations and play a positive role in building a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability," said Jiang.

China to keep military ties with US on track of stable, sound, sustainable development: spokesman

A Chinese defense spokesman on Thursday accused the Philippines of making provocations in the name of security cooperation in the South China sea.

At a press conference in Beijing, Jiang Bin, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, responded to a media query about the Philippines using its co-chairmanship of the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus Experts' Working Group (EWG) on Maritime Security to rally certain countries for a joint military exercise near China's Huangyan Dao.

The Philippines is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"Taking advantage of its role as co-chair of the EWG on Maritime Security, the Philippine side has put aside the principle of consensus through consultation and co-opted relevant countries into conducting a joint military exercise in areas near China's Huangyan Dao. The exercise is in fact a provocation and propaganda in the name of security cooperation. It will only disrupt regional peace and stability and runs counter to the regional consensus of jointly preserving peace and promoting development," said Jiang.

Philippines makes provocations in name of security cooperation: Chinese military spokesman