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China, US discuss setting up defense hotline
By Hu Xiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-02-01 03:06
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| Richard Lawless, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence, gestures
during the meeting in Beijing, January 31, 2005.
[newsphoto] | US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will likely visit China at an
"appropriate" time this year, a senior Chinese military official said yesterday.
"Defence Secretary Rumsfeld is
willing to visit China this year, but the specific timing will be decided after
further discussions between the two military sides," said Colonel Tu Qiming,
director of the American and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Foreign Affairs
Office at the National Defence Ministry.
Tu made the remarks at the end of a first day of defence talks involving
Zhang Bangdong, director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the ministry, and US
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for East Asia and the Pacific Richard
Lawless.
Lawless declined to comment on yesterday's meeting.
It is the first-ever "special defence policy dialogue" between the two
defence ministries, according to the Chinese military side.
The two-day closed-door talks continue today. Lawless is scheduled to meet
Xiong Guangkai, deputy chief of the general staff of the Chinese People's
Liberation Army, this morning.
During yesterday's talks, the two sides expressed "hopes that the Taiwan
question can be peacefully resolved," said Tu, adding that both sides are
opposed to "Taiwan independence."
![U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld gestures during a news conference at the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, in Washington in this January 26, 2005 photo. A senior Chinese military official said on January 31 that Rumsfeld will likely visit China at an "appropriate" time this year. [Reuters]](xin_32020201135859390826.jpg)
U.S. Secretary of
Defense Donald Rumsfeld gestures during a news conference at the Russell
Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, in Washington in this January 26,
2005 photo. A senior Chinese military official said on January 31 that
Rumsfeld will likely visit China at an "appropriate" time this year.
[Reuters] | Delegates on each side have been "earnest, practical and frank" in their
discussions, said Tu, citing the first day's dialogue as "fruitful."
"This meeting represents the importance both sides have attached to their
military relations and both sides feel the relationship is developing in a frank
and constructive manner," he said.
Citing the on-going communication between the two ministries as "smooth," Tu
said installing a hotline between the two ministries is under discussion, Xinhua
News Agency reported.
Tu denied that the two sides discussed the European Union's proposed plan to
lift a 15-year arms embargo against China this year.
A senior-level Russian military delegation is also having closed-door talks
with Chinese side this week with the first-ever upcoming joint military
exercises between the two likely to be on the agenda.
"We will hold our first joint command staff exercises with the Chinese army
in August or September involving various forces to practice issues involving
fighting our common enemy - international terrorism," Russian First Deputy
Defence Minister Colonel General Alexander Belousov said over the
weekend.
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