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Senior Chinese and US military officials held their fifth round of consultations at vice defense ministerial level on defense on Monday and Tuesday, and they agreed to maintain contacts and consultations on bilateral military exchanges in the coming year.
During their consultations in Washington, the two sides exchanged views on the regional and international security situations, state-to-state relations and bilateral military ties, as well as other issues of common concern.
General Xiong Guangkai, deputy chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army of China, and Douglas Feith, US undersecretary of defense for policy, attended the consultations. The fourth round of consultations was held in Dec. 2000.
During his talks with Feith, Xiong said that the Sino-US relations encountered some troubles and setbacks in the first halfof last year. However, thanks to the joint efforts of both sides and the three meetings between Chinese President Jiang Zemin and US President George W. Bush, the bilateral ties have witnessed great improvement and development over the past year or more.
During their meetings, the two state leaders reached important consensus on the development of constructive relationship of cooperation between the two nations.
The continued improvement of bilateral ties has created a favorable atmosphere for the resumption and improvement of relations between the two armies, the Chinese general noted.
During Jiang's visit to the United States in October, China and the United States agreed to resume bilateral military exchanges, hold consultations at vice defense ministerial level and carry out other military exchanges in the near future.
Xiong said that the on-going consultations in Washington were designed to implement the above-mentioned consensus and represented an important step forward in putting the development of bilateral military relations back onto the normal track.
China has always held positive attitudes toward the development of bilateral military ties, said Xiong. He added that China will continue to conduct military exchanges with the US side.
Xiong said China is ready to work together with the United States to remove all the disturbances and obstacles that stand in the way of the development of bilateral military ties so as to promote the development of such relations and contribute to the constructive relationship of cooperation between the two countries.
Feith said that great changes have taken place in the international situation since the last consultations held two years ago and the US side regards the current consultations as an important channel for both sides to exchange views on regional and world issues and gain a deeper understanding of each other's strategy and policies.
Feith said that it is important for the two sides to discuss regional and world issues of common interest through consultations and to understand each other's positions. Consultations between the two sides could reduce the risks of miscalculation and misunderstanding and promote the development of bilateral military ties, he added.
They also agreed that the atmosphere at the consultations was friendly and conducive to the promotion of the constructive relationship of cooperation between the two countries.
Xiong arrived in Washington on Sunday. During his stay here, he also met with US Presidential National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.
(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2002)
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