China,US hold defense talks despite frictions

BEIJING - High-ranking officials from China and the United States held their annual defense consultative talks (DCT) as planned on Wednesday in Beijing, despite recent frictions including US arms sales to Taiwan.

"The fact that the consultations took place as scheduled shows that both countries are being sincere about maintaining military exchanges," Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), told US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy at the start of their talks.

The consultations marked the first engagement between the defense ministries of both countries since the US announced in September its $5.85-billion arms sale to Taiwan, including upgrades for 145 of Taiwan's fighter jets.