The "great powers" relationship China is seeking with the United States "is not going to happen simply by (China) talking about it," Secretary of State John Kerry said at the East-West Center on Wednesday.

"It’s not going to happen by engaging in a slogan or pursuing a sphere of influence," Kerry said. "It will be defined by more and better cooperation on shared challenges. And it will be defined by a mutual embrace of the rules, the norms and the institutions, that have served both of our nations and the region so well."

Arriving in Hawaii after stops in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Australia and the Solomon Islands, Kerry, speaking to more than 300 invited guests at the East-West Center, touched on climate change, human rights, economic opportunities in the region and, somewhat obliquely, China’s increasing assertiveness in the East and South China Seas.

During the weekend, and as worries grow over the possibility of unplanned small-scale conflict between China and one of its neighbors, Kerry called for China and other nations to halt provocative actions and "lower the temperature."

China promptly rebuffed Kerry’s request, made at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations forum in Myanmar.

China Daily, whose editorial offices are in Beijing, said Kerry’s call for a freeze on provocative acts in the South China Sea was "just another example of the United States’ meddling in the disputes."

The publication said "provocative acts" was not the language used by the United States "when it comes to the reckless behavior of the Philippines or Vietnam" — two nations with whom China has had run-ins.

Ralph Cossa, president of the Honolulu-based Pacific Forum CSIS, the Asia-Pacific arm of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, and who attended Kerry’s East-West Center speech, said China should live up to an ASEAN commitment it made in 2002 to the "peaceful and durable solution of differences."

Instead, "what’s happening today is China has become the best salesman for U.S. continued and deepened presence in Asia," Cossa said.

"They (China) are conducting military, coast guard and civil operations — fishing operations — vis-a-vis Japan, vis-a-vis the Philippines and other U.S. allies that could very well invoke our treaties," Cossa said. "That will put us on a collision course. Will that be World War III? No, but it’s certainly going to damage credibility for years."

Cossa said China suffers from "premature arrogance," adding, "The Chinese, I think, have gotten a little bit full of themselves, and there are a lot of reasons to be proud, but also a lot of problems, and they need to come to terms with that and we need to find ways to cooperate with each other."

China would like greater stability in its relationship with the United States to avoid or, if necessary, manage tension that history suggests is inevitable between established and rising powers.

Kerry reiterated that President Barack Obama "has made it clear that the United States welcomes the rise of a peaceful, prosperous and stable China."

Kerry said he was "very pleased" that China and the United States are "cooperating effectively on the Iran nuclear talks, and we’ve increased our dialogue on (North Korea)."

"We’ve also cooperated significantly on climate change possibilities, counterpiracy operations and South Sudan," he added.

The region needs to turn "today’s climate crisis into tomorrow’s clean-energy revolution," Kerry told the assembly.

"Climate change is not a crisis of the future. Climate change is here now. It’s happening," he said.

No two nations can have a greater influence on the challenge than the United States and China as the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters, he said.

Kerry noted that he came to Hawaii from the Solomon Islands.

"One thousand islands, some of which could be wiped out if we don’t make the right choices," he said. "Pacific islands across the entire Pacific are vulnerable to climate change. And just yesterday, I saw with my own eyes what sea level rise would do to parts of it: It would be devastating — entire habitats destroyed, entire populations displaced from their homes."

The United States is deepening partnerships with Pacific Island nations to meet immediate threats and long-term development challenges, he said.

"And we’re also working on a Pacific pathway of marine protected areas that includes President Obama’s commitment to explore a protected area of more than a million square miles in size in the U.S. remote Pacific," Kerry said.

He said the United States and Australia are "today as close as nations can get."

The two countries signed a "force posture agreement" that will increase the 1,200 U.S. Marines in northern Australia now — including 100 Kaneohe Bay Marines and four CH-53E helicopters — to 2,500 Marines by 2017.

U.S. B-52 bombers and fighter jets also are expected to train in Australia.

Kerry also noted the importance of humanitarian rights in Asia and the Pacific with a coup leading to a "setback in democracy" in Thailand, the "promise of a democratic future" in Indonesia, and progress being made in Myanmar.