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 Admiral Wu Shengli made the comments to U.S. chief of naval
operations Admiral John Richardson during a video teleconference on
Thursday, according to a Chinese naval statement.
The two officers held talks after a U.S. warship sailed within 12
nautical miles of one of Beijing's man-made islands in the contested
Spratly archipelago on Tuesday.
China has rebuked Washington over the patrol, the most significant
U.S. challenge yet to territorial limits China effectively claims
around its seven artificial islands in one of the world's busiest
sea lanes.
"If the United States continues with these kinds of dangerous,
provocative acts, there could well be a seriously pressing situation
between frontline forces from both sides on the sea and in the air,
or even a minor incident that sparks war," the statement paraphrased
Wu as saying.
"(I) hope the U.S. side cherishes the good situation between the
Chinese and U.S. navies that has not come easily and avoids these
kinds of incidents from happening again," Wu said.
 Speaking earlier, a U.S. official said the naval chiefs agreed to
maintain dialogue and follow protocols to avoid clashes.
Scheduled port visits by U.S. and Chinese ships and planned visits
to China by senior U.S. Navy officers remained on track, the
official said.
"None of that is in jeopardy. Nothing has been canceled," said the
official.
UNPLANNED ENCOUNTERS
Both officers agreed on the need to stick to protocols established
under the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES).
"They agreed that it's very important that both sides continue to
use the protocols under the CUES agreement when they're operating
close to keep the chances for misunderstanding and any kind of
provocation from occurring," the U.S. official said.
Indeed, Wu said he believed the Chinese and U.S. navies had plenty
of scope for cooperation and should both "play a positive role in
maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea".
A U.S. Navy spokesman stressed Washington's position that U.S.
freedom of navigation operations were meant to "protect the rights,
freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all
nations under international law".
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Chinese warships followed the USS Lassen, a guided-missile
destroyer, as it moved through the Spratlys on Tuesday. The U.S.
Navy is operating in a maritime domain bristling with Chinese ships.
While the U.S. Navy is expected to keep its technological edge in
Asia for decades, China's potential trump card is sheer weight of
numbers, with dozens of naval and coastguard vessels routinely
deployed in the South China Sea, security experts say.
China has overlapping claims with Vietnam, the Philippines,
Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei in the South China Sea, through which $5
trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year.
Next week, Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Vietnam and
Singapore, while Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan will attend
a meeting of Southeast Asian defense ministers in Malaysia that U.S.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter is also due to attend.
COURT SETBACK
Separately, China suffered a legal setback on Thursday when an
arbitration court in the Netherlands ruled it had jurisdiction to
hear some territorial claims the Philippines has filed against
Beijing over the South China Sea.
The court said additional hearings would be held to decide the
merits of the Philippines' arguments. China has not participated in
the proceedings and does not recognize the court's authority in the
case.
Manila filed the case in 2013 to seek a ruling on its right to
exploit the South China Sea waters in its 200-nautical mile
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as allowed under the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
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