Chinese officials in recent months reportedly described the South China Sea in diplomatic talks as among the country's "core interests," raising the stakes and putting the issue on a par with Tibet or Taiwan.

"They now, at least in some of our interactions with them, appear to have backed away somewhat from the 'core interest' argument," said the senior defence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

His comments came on the sidelines of the highest level regional defence talks ever held in Asia, led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Chinese leaders seem "to be seeking to come up with other ways to articulate their approach to these issues," the official told reporters.

"It is probably fair to conclude that there is some internal debate in Beijing about exactly how they approach this set of issues."

China is involved in a series of long-running disputes with countries in the region over strategically-important or potentially resource-rich islands.

President Barack Obama's administration has recently adopted a tougher line on the South China Sea disputes, backing up smaller countries in the region that had complained Beijing was using bullying tactics.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton staked out the US position in July. She said freedom of navigation was a US "national interest" and indirectly questioned Beijing's territorial claims.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates restated the policy on Tuesday at the conference and said the US military would keep operating in what it considers international waters in the Pacific, despite objections from China.

China's decision to attend Tuesday's conference was in itself a promising sign, US officials said, suggesting Beijing wanted to reduce tensions and had not closed the door to a regional diplomatic approach to the maritime issue.

In a statement to the Hanoi meeting, Chinese Defence Minister Liang Guanglie said his country was open to regional security cooperation.

The new forum "has appropriately set stronger mutual trust and understanding as one of its basic objectives," he said.

"They're clearly here because they're trying to show a positive face in the region," the senior US official said of the ASEAN-led conference.

China previously accused Washington of meddling in the issue and had said there was no need for a multilateral deal.

Countries in Southeast Asia that have disagreed with China over maritime rights are now trying to find "a more positive approach, a more constructive approach," the official said.

"I would say we feel like there is less of a sense of an immediate crisis today" over the South China Sea, he said.

There is hope that "we will not be translating differences in interpretation of international law or policy differences into unsafe and dangerous behavior on the high seas," the official said.

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