US visit set to 'tackle sensitive issues'

Foreign minister's trip this week also expected to boost 'pragmatic cooperation'

Ahead of Foreign Minister Wang Yi's US visit this week, Beijing has noted the US defense deployment in Hawaii, hitting back at the latest US criticism that China's presence on its South China Sea islands is boosting "militarization".

"China's deploying necessary, limited defensive facilities on its own territory is not substantively different from the US defending Hawaii," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Monday.