The U.S. Navy's Japan-based aircraft carrier arrived in Hong Kong on Wednesday, the military said in a statement, a day after the air force flew two B-52 bombers near disputed islands in the South China Sea.

The port call came nearly two months after China denied a request by another U.S. warship to visit the city amid rising tensions between Beijing and Washington over trade and the South China Sea.

The Reagan, which is homeported in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, was accompanied by the guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville and the guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a statement.