China-US military ties advance

Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie paid a six-day visit to the United States last week. It was the first visit by a Chinese defense minister in nine years and also the first high-level military exchange since bilateral military ties were disrupted by the US' planned arms sale to Taiwan last year.

Four consensuses have been reached between Liang and his US counterpart Leon Panetta on further developing military ties and strengthening pragmatic communication and cooperation, demonstrating the general direction of the bilateral military ties is now toward stability, mutual trust and cooperation. The joint statement indicates that the US may refrain itself from harming China's core interests, and China will also try to avoid breaking military ties as revenge.

China-US military ties have not only been disrupted by the US' arms sales to Taiwan over the past 20-odd years, but also by the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999, and the collision between a US reconnaissance plane and a Chinese fighter near China's coast that killed the Chinese pilot in 2001.