China's top General on Monday hit out at the United States for spending too much on its military and also blamed the country for raising tensions over the recent South China Sea dispute by holding “inappropriate” drills in the region.

The comments from Chen Bingde, Chief of General Staff of the People's Liberation Army, underscored persisting differences between the two countries, as Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, began a visit here this week aimed at repairing recently strained ties.

Following talks with Admiral Mullen, General Chen said the two countries had “different opinions” on a number of issues, yet found some common ground.

The U.S. needed to be “more modest and prudent in words and deeds”, he told reporters on Monday, at a joint press conference during which he traded frequent barbs with his U.S. counterpart. Admiral Mullen's visit here followed General Chen's maiden trip to the U.S. in May, part of a recent effort by both countries to bring souring defence ties back on track amid differences over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and the South China Sea dispute.

General Chen reiterated China's displeasure with joint exercises the U.S. had planned with the Philippines and Vietnam, two countries that have recently clashed with China over disputed islands in the South China Sea.

Even while Admiral Mullen stressed the exercises had been planned in advance, General Chen said “the timing of these joint exercises is inappropriate as we see it”. The U.S. holding exercises when China and other countries had “some difficulties” was “bad timing at the very least”, he said.

He also questioned the U.S. over its $650-billion defence spending, which, he said, dwarfed China's declared $95 billion defence budget. “I know the U.S. is still recovering from the financial crisis,” he said. “Under such circumstances, it is still spending a lot of money on its military. Isn't that placing too much pressure on the taxpayers?”

China's military, he said, lagged far behind the U.S. but advancements were in the works. China only had “small ships” which were not commensurate with the country's status. When asked about China's plans to develop indigenous aircraft carriers, with the country's first carrier, a remodelled Russian vessel, set for its first sea trials, he said he hoped “the country will have aircraft carriers in the future”.

On Sunday, Admiral Mullen struck a conciliatory note with his hosts, acknowledging China was “a Pacific power”.

He did, however, stress the U.S. would maintain a presence in the region. “The U.S. is not going away,” he said. “Our enduring presence in this region has been important to our allies for decades and it will continue to be so.”

He described China as a “great power” — not a merely rising one — in an address at Beijing's Renmin University. “With greater military power must come greater responsibility, greater cooperation, and just as important, greater transparency,” he said. “Without these things, the expansion of military power in your region, rather than making it more secure and stable, could have the opposite affect.”