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Chinese defense
minister signals change in US ties
¡¥TURNOVER¡¦: Minister Liang Guanglie said that
China-US military relations had normalized after visits were post-poned in the
wake of last year¡¦s arms sales to Taiwan
By William Lowther / Staff reporter in Washington
US Secretary of Defense Leon
Panetta, left, and Chinese Minister of Defense Liang Guanglie take part in a
ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington on Monday.
Photo: CNA
Chinese Minister of Defense Liang Guanglie
(±ç¥ú¯P) told a Pentagon press conference on Monday that there had been ¡§a kind of
turnover¡¨ in US-China military relations since Washington announced a new arms
package to Taiwan in September last year.
Liang, who was speaking following meetings with US Secretary of Defense Leon
Panetta and earlier in the day with Deputy Secretary of State William Burns,
seemed to indicate that despite the sale, the relationship had improved.
While it is believed that arms sales to Taiwan were raised by the Chinese side
at both meetings, no details were given during the joint Liang-Panetta press
conference.
Neither mentioned Taiwan during formal opening statements.
However, in answer to one of the two questions that were allowed, Liang said:
¡§Ever since last year ¡X when the United States launched its new round of arms
sales to Taiwan ¡X we have postponed some of the engagement programs, including
my visit to the United States and Secretary Panetta¡¦s visit to China.¡¨
¡§And here, I¡¦m visiting the United States now, and I have invited Secretary
Panetta to visit China later this year, which I would believe is a kind of
turnover in the China-US military relationship even after the US arms sales to
Taiwan,¡¨ he said.
Prior to Liang¡¦s Washington meetings, US officials told the Taipei Times that
they fully expected that the general would object to any future arms sales to
Taiwan.
In particular, they expected him to ask for ¡§clarification¡¨ on the recent White
House promise to give ¡§serious consideration¡¨ to selling F-16C/D aircraft to
Taiwan.
Sources close to the administration of US President Barack Obama said the US
would simply reply that as in the past they were obliged to fulfill their
obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act.
However, what happened in the actual closed-door meetings is not known.
Panetta said his meeting with Liang had been ¡§very productive¡¨ and that he had
expressed a commitment to ¡§achieving and maintaining a healthy, stable, reliable
and continuous¡¨ military-to--military relationship with China.
¡§On regional security challenges, we talked about North Korea and other areas,¡¨
he said.
The discussion had included maritime areas, cyberspace, nuclear proliferation
and missile -defense, Panetta said.
¡§We recognize that the United States and China will not always agree on every
issue, but we believe our military-to-military dialogue is critical to ensuring
that we avoid dangerous misunderstandings and misperceptions that could lead to
[a] crisis,¡¨ he said.
¡§A positive, cooperative, comprehensive United States-China relationship is
absolutely essential to achieving a secure Asia--Pacific region,¡¨ Panetta said.
Liang said he had an in-depth and candid discussion with Burns on the
international security situation.
He said that discussions with Panetta had been ¡§deep¡¨ and that both sides had
committed to building a sound, stable and reliable military-to-military
relationship.
¡§The China-US bilateral relationship is on a new starting line in history to
build a new type of China-US military relationship based on equality,
cooperation and mutual benefit,¡¨ Liang said.
He said China wanted to work with the US to ¡§respect each other¡¦s core interests
and major concerns and to properly handle disagreements and differences.¡¨
Liang is the first Chinese defense minister to visit the US in nine years.
His six-day trip, which ends tomorrow, has included stops at the San Diego naval
base, Southern Command in Florida, Fort Benning in Georgia and other military
sites.
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