Chinese and US officials have reached a consensus on a wide
range of issues during the ongoing ninth vice-ministerial level
defense consultations taking place in Washington from Dec.3 - 5, a
Chinese official said.
Qian Lihua, Director of the Foreign Office of the Chinese
Ministry of Defense, told a group of reporters Tuesday that both
sides attached great importance to the consultations, which were
held in a "gentle and constructive" atmosphere.
The two sides also had a very thorough exchange of ideas on some
sensitive issues and expressed each other's own concerns, he
said.
The consultations were co-chaired by Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief
of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and
US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman.
For the first time, officials from the US National Security
Council and the US State Department attended the bilateral defense
talks, which also highlighted the importance of the
consultations.
Qian said the two sides reached a consensus on many matters
during the consultations.
They agreed to continuously strengthen high-level visits between
the two militaries, and to deepen the existing exchange
mechanism.
They also explored the possibilities of future cooperation in
other areas.
Chinese officials told their US counterparts that although
Chinese and US leaders have always attached great importance to
bilateral military exchanges, the relationship between the two
militaries have lagged behind the bilateral relations of the two
countries in other areas.
US officials said they felt the same way and hoped the
relationship between the two militaries could at least keep pace
with nonmilitary bilateral ties or even take a leading place in
China-US relations.
The two sides also exchanged opinions on issues such as the
establishment of a bilateral military hotline, cooperation on
military historical files and exchanges between young military
officers of the two nations.
During the talks, Chinese officials reiterated that the Taiwan
issue is the biggest hurdle for developing the relationship between
the two militaries.
They urged the US side to take concrete actions to stop its
official contacts and military links with the Taiwan authorities
and to stop selling advanced weapons to Taiwan to avoid any damage
to Sino-US relations.
US officials said the United States will stick to its
obligations in the three Joint Communiques between the two
countries, uphold the one-China policy and oppose any unilateral
changes to the status quo of the Taiwan Straits.
They also reiterated Washington's opposition to the push by the
Taiwan authorities for a referendum on UN membership.
The Chinese delegation arrived Washington Saturday for the
defense consultations, the ninth since the two sides agreed to meet
for defense and security issues in 1997.
(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2007)
