BEIJING - China has demonstrated to the United States its firm determination to safeguard sovereignty, territorial integrity and maritime interests, a National Defense Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

Chinese state and military leaders reiterated China's principled stand on the issue of the Diaoyu Islands in their respective meetings with Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, who arrived in Beijing on Sunday for a five-day visit, Yang Yujun said at a press conference.

"The US side is aware of China's stand," Yang said in response to a question on Dempsey's remarks on Wednesday that the Diaoyu Islands came within the scope of the US-Japan security treaty.