WASHINGTON, USA - China pressed the United States in top-level talks Tuesday over its handling of Taiwan and hinted it asked Washington to rein in an exiled leader of the Uighur minority.

Wang Guangya, China's vice foreign minister, hailed new cooperation with the United States but also warned it not to support any independence-minded moves by Taiwan, which Beijing considers a breakaway province.

'We once again asked the United States to deal appropriately with issues related to Taiwan,' Wang told reporters after two days of high-level talks here.

He declined comment on whether President Barack Obama's administration had promised not to sell F-16 fighter jets sought by Taiwan. Wang said only that the previous George W. Bush administration made a 'wrong decision' by approving a 6.5-billion-dollar arms package to Taiwan in October.

Wang also thanked the United States for its 'moderate' stance on unrest in northwestern Xinjiang province, where recent violence between indigenous Uighurs and China's Han majority left at least 192 people dead.

'The United States unequivocally said that this incident is entirely a domestic affair of China,' Wang said.

But he added: 'We also asked the United States to restrain and prevent activities of any person taking advantage of the territory of the United States to conduct separatist activities against China.'

He was likely alluding to Rebiya Kadeer, the leader of the World Uighur Congress, who fled to the Washington area in 2005 after six years in a Chinese prison.

China has accused the 62-year-old mother of 11 of instigating the recent violence and enjoying support of 'terrorists' in the Muslim-majority region.

Kadeer, backed by US lawmakers, has rejected the allegations. She accuses China of using excessive force to curb dissent and of falsely lumping in Uighurs with Al-Qaeda extremists to gain international sympathy.

Dozens of Uighurs held a noisy protest, chanting 'China, stop the genocide!' as Wang and other senior Chinese leaders arrived near the White House for their closing news conference.