Recent talks between visiting US secretary of state John Kerry and Chinese leaders indicate that tensions in the South China Sea remain the top China issue for Washington, reports Duowei News, an outlet run by overseas Chinese.

Kerry arrived in Beijing on Friday and met separately with Chinese president Xi Jinping and premier Li Keqiang. During Kerry’s 70-minute meeting with Xi, the two leaders reportedly discussed pressing issues such as North Korea, which Kerry later told reporters China was willing to put more pressure on to make Pyongyang abandon its nuclear program.

Washington’s main concern, however, is not North Korea as the two countries have already reached a consensus on how to move toward with the problem, Duowei said, adding that Kerry’s primary objective was in fact to try and assert the US position over China’s ongoing dispute with Japan over ownership of the Diaoyutai (Diaoyu to China, Senkaku to Japan) islands in the South China Sea.

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