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China-US military contacts gaining momentum

By Cai Hong (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-03-05 14:00

Washington – China and the United States are moving forward in a number of areas for military contacts, a US military official said on Wednesday.

They include the annual Defense Policy Coordination Talks the Chinese and American military officials held in Beijing on February 27-28, the Chinese observership in COBRA GOLD exercise and other exchange activities that have already taken place this year, said David Sedney, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia, at a testimony before the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

"I view as positive that we and the Chinese have agreed to resume our military-to-military exchanges," Sedney told the commission. He was just back from a trip to Asia.

The latest talks were the first formal dialogue between the two countries since Obama swore in.

China decided to cancel or suspend the military contacts with the US after the latter notified arms sales to Taiwan in October 2008.

Sedney said the US welcomes the rise of a stable, peaceful and prosperous China, and continues to encourage China to participate responsibly in the international system by supporting, strengthening and stabilizing the global security architecture that it has benefitted from during its economic rise.

"This policy is not only in accordance with our values, but also, more importantly, in our national interest," the official said. "While it is a historical fact that the rise of major powers has, in some cases, been fraught with violence and instability, with China that has not been the case."

The panelists at Wednesday testimony on China's military and security activities abroad welcome China's counter-piracy effort. China deployed three naval vessels off the coast of Somalia in December 2008. In their words, it is a signal of a greater willingness on the part of China to contribute to cooperatively to the international communities' responsibilities in addressing transnational threats.

"China and the United States are both countries with global interests and who need to work jointly to address common concerns," Sedney said.

Before the US arms sale to Taiwan, the Sino-US military relations had been progressing steadily. The defense telephone link between the two countries was established in March 2008 and has been used three times since. The first round of a nuclear dialogue was held in April. A series of high-level defense meetings took place in the spring and summer of 2008.

Chin-Hao Huang, a researcher with Stockholm International Peace Research Institute,, suggested that Washington consider policies aimed at reinforcing some the encouraging trends related to China's expanding involvement in multilateral peace operations.

He said the prospects for the China-US collaboration on peacekeeping activities face considerable obstacles at this stage.

The Congressionally mandated restrictions on US-China military-to-military ties outlined in the Defense Authorization Bill for fiscal year 2000 places strict limitations on the scope and scale of bilateral military exchanges. It includes advanced combined-arms and joint combat operations, advanced logistic operations, surveillance and reconnaissance operations and force projection operations, among many other areas.

"As long as the limitations remain the law of the land, there will be continued caution in the level of interaction between the two militaries," Huang said.

Retired Rear Admiral Eric McVadon found a window left open for the military cooperation between the two countries, adding that humanitarian assistance and disaster relief is one form of cooperative military and naval effort permitted by this bill.

"We should expect to discover and have to live with some Chinese activities we do not like, and China will not agree with all Washington does," said McVadon, director of Asia-Pacific Studies at Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis. "But we should see many activities, like the prospect of combined efforts in sea-lane security, where we are encouraging China's expanded role in the world, welcoming rather fearing Chinese expended influence."

Still, the panelists came up with the differences between the two countries. Deputy Assistant Secretary John Norris of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs John Norris listed the US differences with some key elements of China's security policy, including its conduct of trade, arms trade with irresponsible regimes, as well as a lack of transparency about its military modernization.

"We meanwhile will continue to abide by our obligation under the Taiwan Relations Act to make available arms for Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability," Norris claimed.

He believed that China can play a helpful role in resolving key challenges, which, if left unaddressed, have negative implications not just for the US, but for China and the world.

"This openness to cooperation will characterize the (Obama) administration's policy toward China," Norris said.