U.S., China agree to improve military ties, with few hard commitments - China - Stripes: "Chinese defense leaders and Defense Secretary Robert Gates agreed on the importance of improved military relations, but left their first meetings with few specifics on how to make that happen — and no guarantees that the Chinese won’t halt the relationship again.
“We are in strong agreement that in order to reduce the chance of miscommunication, misunderstanding or miscalculation, it is important that our military-to-military ties are solid, consistent and not subject to shifting political winds,” Gates said Monday.
Defense Minister Gen. Liang Guanglie said their meeting was “positive, constructive and productive,” and said the Chinese fully agreed on the importance of setting “sustained and reliable” military-to-military relations, using Gates’ words from one day earlier.
The event marks a new beginning after a rough year between the two sides during which China protested U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and canceled a Gates visit last June, Washington cajoled Beijing to take stronger actions against North Korean military aggression, and the U.S. ramped up military exercises in the Yellow Sea.
Pressed to say whether the People’s Liberation Army would again cut off ties if the U.S. sold arms to Taiwan, Liang gave a strong, yet noncommittal, response."
