US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel started his first visit to China since taking office on Monday.

Describing his three-day trip as a journey to boost trust, openness and transparency between Beijing and Washington, Hagel said on Thursday in Honolulu that Chinese are his "friends," stressing the United States' "pivot to Asia" is "not a contain-China strategy".

Those words were certainly welcomed by Beijing. However, other messages sent by Hagel in the past few days are not easily interpreted as a friendly gesture, said a Xinhua commentary.