Visiting US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta sang a harmonious tune in Beijing on Tuesday when he told his Chinese counterpart Liang Guanglie that the United States intends to establish a healthy, stable, reliable and continuous relationship with China and wants to build strong military-to-military relations.

His tone was similar to the one used by US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, during her visit to Beijing earlier this month. Such an approach is definitely better than talking tough as it helps bring the two countries together rather than pushing them apart.

Worldwide, military-to-military ties are perceived as a barometer of the overall relations between two countries. Over the years, bilateral military ties used to be the weak link in Sino-US relations but the link has strengthened since last year.