Fine twist in Sino-US military ties

China is participating in the US-led 2014 Rim of Pacific military exercise for the first time since it started in 1971, indicating improved Sino-US military ties. Among the fleet of multiple nations taking part in the joint military exercise are four Chinese navy vessels - the Peace Ark hospital ship, Qiandaohu depot ship, Haikou missile destroyer and Yueyang frigate.

China and the United States established diplomatic relations in 1979, and since then their military ties have gone through several ups and downs. US arms sales to Taiwan, American surveillance planes flying close to the Chinese mainland and certain US laws and regulations that discriminate against China have often thwarted efforts to improve bilateral, especially military, relations. But what actually had been a stumbling block between the two powers is the lack of mutual strategic trust.

That situation changed after the meeting between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Barack Obama in Sunnylands, California, in June last year. On the strategic front, Xi and Obama agreed that both sides would make efforts to forge a "new type of major-power relationship" based on "non-conflict and non-confrontation" as well as cooperation, and thus laid the foundation for better bilateral military ties.