US Weighs Stronger Ties with China: Washington Post

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, July 23, 2002

US Weighs Stronger Ties with China: Washington Post

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The Pentagon is considering steps to intensify military ties with China after indications from Beijing that it will allow more transparency and access in the relationship, according to US defense officials.

The report sadi that the move reflects a growing acknowledgment of the importance of improved military ties with China.

US-China relations suffered a serious setback when a US Navy surveillance plane collided with a Chinese fighter over the South China Sea in April 2001. Although the political relationship has since thawed, military contacts have remained icy, marked by limited exchanges and little opportunity to observe military maneuvers up close.

The Pentagon took a tentative step last month in the direction of more extensive and higher-level contacts by sending Peter W. Rodman, the assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, to Beijing. The trip was said to have yielded encouraging results.

"Rodman had constructive talks and came back with the impression that there's a good understanding of our concerns," a senior defense official said. "We're contemplating other things we could do to advance the process, and I think we should be able to move forward with some of them."

Among the measures under consideration are expanded educational exchanges for military officers and resumption of a regular high-level dialogue begun in the 1990s known as the Defense Consultative Talks. But the general intention, officials said, is to proceed gradually, gauging China's response along the way.

"Our attitude is to do this in a careful, disciplined way," another defense official said. "We think there's an opportunity to improve the quality of these ties."

Past efforts to expand military ties with China have caused some Pentagon disappointment. US officials have complained about a lack of reciprocity, such as China's reluctance to provide access to its military after opportunities to observe US forces. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has spoken of a desire for more transparency and consistency in military-to-military exchanges with China.

Within the administration, the State Department has advocated greater engagement with China, highlighting China's importance as a potential partner in the global war on terrorism. And outside the administration, some prominent Republicans also have urged the resumption of closer military contact with China.

"I think we have everything to gain by it and nothing to lose -- for two reasons," said Brent Scowcroft, who was national security adviser to former president George H.W. Bush. "First, of all the important groups in China, the one most isolated and therefore most in need of outside exposure is the military. And second, it is useful for us to invite them over and show them what a great military we have."

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz has spoken optimistically of how an increasingly powerful China could play a positive role in Asia and the Pacific. "We think that contacts between our two militaries can contribute to reducing misunderstanding and building a more secure Asia in the future," he said at the Foreign Press Center in late May.

Bush, who met with Chinese President Jiang Zemin in Beijing in February, has expressed interest in expanding military-to-military relations. "The president has and does see the need for US-China military-to-military ties that protect and serve US interests," said Sean McCormack, a spokesman for the National Security Council.

But the president has appeared willing to leave the timing of improved ties to the Pentagon. Rumsfeld discussed how to move toward wider relations when he met at the Pentagon in June with Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao. Those talks produced an agreement to send Rodman to Beijing, with instructions to push for more understanding on both sides about what was expected from intensified military contacts.

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