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US, China hold maritime security talks
in Hawaii
AP, HONOLULU
The US and Chinese militaries have finished two days of talks over security on
the high seas, the first such discussions since China broke off contact earlier
this year to protest the US sale of arms to Taiwan.
The resumption of military contacts after an eight-month freeze adds to what
appears to be a warming of delicate US-China relations. They came just days
after China invited US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to visit Beijing.
The US Pacific Command said in a statement at the conclusion of Friday’s session
in Honolulu that the talks were aimed at increasing the safety of airmen and
sailors and were important for a “sustained, reliable and meaningful
military-to-military relationship.”
There was no immediate comment from China on the talks. Calls to the defense
ministry press office in Beijing rang unanswered.
The US has long expressed concern about mishaps or near-mishaps when the two
militaries operate near each other, such as in Asian territory.
“This week’s discussions were designed to increase safety of our sailors and
airmen operating in proximity,” said US Marine Corps Major General Randolph
Alles, who led the US delegation. “It was a professional and frank exchange.”
In 2001, a US spy plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet and made an
emergency landing on China’s Hainan Island. The Chinese pilot died and the US
crew of 24 was detained on Hainan for 11 days.
Last year, Chinese ships surrounded and harassed a US Navy mapping ship, the
USNS Impeccable, in international waters off China. The Chinese ships at one
point came within 8m of the US boat and strewed debris in its path. China later
said the US ship was operating illegally inside China’s exclusive economic zone.
Rear Admiral Liao Shining (廖世寧) of the People’s Liberation Army Navy led the
Chinese side at the discussions.
The Pacific Command said both sides would report their findings to the Defense
Consultative Talks scheduled to be held in Washington from Dec. 9 to Dec. 10.
China suspended military relations with the US in January after objecting to a
US$6.4 billion US arms package to Taiwan.
China signaled relations might be repaired when Major General Qian Lihua (錢利華)
told visiting US Assistant Deputy Secretary of Defense Michael Schiffer that
regular dialogue and exchanges on military safety at sea and other issues would
be resumed.
High-level contact came earlier this week when Gates met Chinese Minister of
National Defense General Liang Guanglie (梁光烈) at an Asian security meeting in
Vietnam, where Gates accepted an invitation to visit Beijing. The Pentagon says
Gates will likely go to the Chinese capital early next year.
Regional tensions and heated rhetoric have underscored the importance of regular
contacts between the two militaries, much to the frustration of US officers who
complain of the lack of access to their Chinese counterparts.
China has been especially strident about US involvement in territorial disputes
in the South China Sea — which Beijing claims in its entirety — along with joint
US-South Korean anti-submarine drills in the Yellow Sea, part of which lies
within Chinese sovereign waters.
China also claims to control water far off its coastline that the US considers
open water under international law, which led to the dispute over the USNS
Impeccable. China considers the US position on maritime navigation and security
to be meddling in Asian affairs.
The maritime talks are a continuation of contacts begun in the late 1990s but
subject to frequent interruption, usually at Chinese behest. They were last held
in September last year.
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