Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned the United States that China is committed to peace, but will not give up "even one inch" of territory.
China's state media reports that is what he told visiting U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis on Wednesday.
The remarks come amid tensions between the world's two superpowers over what the Pentagon views as China's militarization of the South China Sea.
U.S. defense officials said that,... while both sides acknowledged points of friction,... they also sought to focus on their shared goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Mattis is due in Seoul for talks with South Korean officials later today.
