BEIJING — The U.S. Navy’s challenge last week to China’s sovereignty claims in the South China Sea was not designed as a military threat, the head of U.S. Pacific military forces said Tuesday in a mostly upbeat speech about prospects for preventing U.S.-China disputes from escalating to conflict.

In separate high-level meetings of military officials from the two nations later Tuesday — one in Beijing and one in Malaysia — top Chinese officials again expressed their country’s pique over the U.S. warship sailing past Chinese-built islands, while also expressing hope that the two sides could build further trust.

Speaking at a university in the Chinese capital, Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. cited a recent statement by U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter that the international order “faces challenges from Russia and, in a different way, from China, with its ambiguous maritime claims,” including Beijing’s claim to nearly all of the South China Sea.

However, Harris said the decision to send the USS Lassen, a guided-missile destroyer, into the South China Sea last week near Subi Reef, within the 12-nautical-mile (22-kilometer) territorial limit claimed by China, was meant to demonstrate the principle of freedom of navigation.

“I truly believe that these routine operations should never be construed as a threat to any nation,” Harris said, according to his prepared remarks. “These operations serve to protect the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all nations under international law.”

China at the time protested the Lassen patrol, calling it a “deliberate provocation,” and sent two warships to shadow the U.S. vessel and issue warnings. Although China labeled the action illegal, international law allows warships to transit other countries’ territorial seas under the principle of “innocent passage.”