Military-to-military exchanges key to better Sino-US trust

A fleet of the People's Liberation Army Navy is participating in the ongoing Rim of the Pacific Exercise even as much of the media attention remains focused on the South China Sea. In the US Congress some voices were raised not to invite China to this year's Rimpac because of the tensions in the South China Sea, but that argument was rejected by most. Among those who have rejected the argument is Admiral Scott Swift, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, who made his stand clear while speaking at the opening press conference of Rimpac 2016 at Pearl Harbor on Tuesday.

And at a talk held by the National Committee on US-China Relations earlier this year, four former US defense secretaries, Harold Brown, William Perry, William Cohen and Chuck Hagel endorsed more military-to-military exchanges between China and the US.

For long, Sino-US military-to-military relationship has been a weak aspect of overall bilateral ties. But that started to change after top Chinese and US leaders pledged to promote exchange and cooperation between their militaries. Despite some unresolved issues, many have called the military-to-military ties a bright spot in the overall bilateral relationship.