In her first full-fledged Washington news conference since taking over as chief US diplomat in January, Rice reiterated the "rising concern here about military modernization in China."

But on the eve of a Middle East trip, she gave no sign of progress in efforts to rein in Israel's transfer of military equipment and technology to China which prompted the Pentagon to restrict sales to Israel.

"We have had some very difficult discussions with the Israelis about this," Rice said. "And I think they understand now the seriousness of the matter and we'll continue to have those discussions."

She said the goal of the world community was to integrate China as a positive force but "it is also entirely appropriate to be concerned that that happen before there is a major military escalation of China's capability."

"And so Israel has a responsibility to be sensitive to that, particularly given the close defense cooperation between Israel and the United States," Rice said.

Rice reiterated "concerns" over the arms sales to Beijing and said "I would hope that our Israeli friends would understand that the United States, of course, has ... primary responsibility for defending in the Pacific."

But she did not say whether she planned to take up the matter with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other Israeli officials when she is in Jerusalem this weekend.

Some officials and press in Israel were speaking of a crisis in relations with their main international patron. But their disquiet was mixed with calls for the Sharon government to show some independence.

The Pentagon has confirmed imposing some restriction on arms sales and technology transfers to Israel but said Wednesday they were focused on the Joint Strike Fighter program.

"It's not a uniform freeze but it's a case-by-case basis," said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman.

The US concerns are reported to center on an Israeli deal to upgrade Harpy Killer drones that it sold to China.

Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported this week that Washington was demanding Israel provide details of more than 60 percent of recent security deals with China and its arms export trade in general.

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