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US vice-president Joe Biden started his visit to China today by urging students in Beijing to challenge their government and teachers.

Speaking to young people waiting for visas at the US embassy, he said: “Children in America are rewarded — not punished — for challenging the status quo. The only way you make something totally new is to break the mould of what was old. Innovation can only occur where you can breathe free.”

Mr Biden appeared to be contrasting the authoritarian rule of the Chinese regime to the liberal intellectual culture in the US. He added: “From the beginning of our country, it’s a constant stream of new immigrants, new cultures, new ideas, new religions, brand new people continuing to reinvigorate the spirit of America.”

The visit comes at a tense moment for the US and China, amid a row in the region after Beijing declared an air defence zone covering islands claimed by Japan in the East China Sea.

China insists pilots flying through airspace over the Senkaku islands file flight plans its government. Since then the US has flown B52 bombers through the zone, and Japan and South Korea have sent surveillance aircraft into it.

Speaking in Tokyo today before leaving for Beijing, Mr Biden said Washington was deeply concerned by China’s action and pledged to raise the issue with President Xi Jinping today. But the state-owned China Daily newspaper warned him not to repeat “erroneous remarks” about the islands dispute.

Mr Biden met vice-president Li Yuanchao at a welcome ceremony in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People. He praised China’s new leadership for its commitment to managing differences candidly.

He also praised the country’s education system, a day after results from a global exam showed Shanghai students had the top scores in all subjects.

The US vice-president made similar comments about thoughts flourishing where people can “breathe free” at the University of Pennsylvania in May. Some Chinese students said they were offended and requested an apology.