The United States and China sought to defuse tensions over disputed territorial seas on Tuesday, with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates urging nations to honor historic rights of free transit through international waters and his Chinese counterpart saying the region has nothing to fear from Beijing's armed forces.

The statement by Mr. Gates to a forum of Asian defense ministers was emphatic in calling on all countries that share the South China Sea to renounce threats or coercion in resolving their competing claims of sovereignty.

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