At their eighth annual round of defense consultations China and
the US consulted on building closer military ties.
"This forum is one of the most important for interactions
between the two defense ministries," said Assistant to the US
Secretary of Defense Peter Rodman the US delegation
leader.
Zhang Qinsheng, Assistant to the Chief of the General Staff of
the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), heads the Chinese
delegation.
As part of growing China-US military ties the consultations on
Thursday came a month after a visit to China by Commander of US
Forces in the Pacific William Fallon.
During his visit Fallon invited a Chinese delegation to observe
a US military exercise in Guam in June. This is the first
invitation of its kind extended by the US.
"This is a positive signal worthy of attention in China-US
military relations," said Yang Yi, director of the Institute for
Strategic Studies, National Defense University of China.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Jianchao said on
Thursday that China had accepted the offer to observe the exercise
with the code name of "Valiant Shield 2006."
"The improvement of our military-to-military relations is
necessary because it's an important part of improving our overall
relations," Rodman said at the beginning of Thursday's
consultations.
The US delegation consists of representatives from the Defense
Department, the Joint Staff, the Pacific Command and the State
Department.
"Our delegation is a large one because we have a lot of useful
businesses we can do together," Rodman said. He stressed, "This is
a good year in fulfilling the commitment of the leaders of the two
countries."
Officers from the Chinese Defense Ministry, Navy, Air Force, the
Second Artillery Force and the General Staff of the PLA attended
the consultations.
"The two sides held candid, friendly and constructive
discussions on international issues, regional security, bilateral
ties and military construction," said a statement issued by the
Chinese Defense Ministry after the one-day closed-door
consultations.
The statement said the two sides showed positive spirit and
initiative in promoting bilateral military ties and the
consultations were helpful to boosting mutual understanding and
trust.
"There are many things that came out of the meeting which we
will follow up on and at different levels," said Rodman. After the
consultations he called eight "a lucky number" when referring to
the eighth round on Thursday morning.
"Both sides had a number of specific ideas on new areas of
cooperation or new activities," he said. "We also had very
high-quality discussions on regional issues and about the nuclear
policy," he said.
"The China-US military exchanges like Thursday's defense
consultations will help boost the mutual trust and promote China-US
constructive and cooperative relations," said spokesperson
Liu.
Late on Thursday afternoon, General Liang Guanglie, Chief of the
General Staff of the PLA, had a meeting with Rodman and his
entourage. China and the US were currently faced with good
opportunities to develop military ties, he said.
He urged leaders of defense departments of both countries to
consider the importance of military ties "from a strategic and
long-term perspective."
"We should step up exchanges and promote military ties in an
all-round manner and in various fields," Liang said.
"If we have questions or concerns the right thing to do is to
ask and discuss," Rodman told Liang.
The annual consultations began in 1997 following an agreement
between then Chinese President Jiang Zemin and his US counterpart
Bill Clinton.
(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2006)