PLA Chief Meets US Commander-in-Chief

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, December 14, 2002

PLA Chief Meets US Commander-in-Chief

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Liang Guanglie, chief of general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), met in Beijing Friday with Thomas Fargo, commander-in-chief of the Pacific Command of the United States Armed Forces.

Liang, also a member of the Central Military Commission, said the three meetings between Chinese President Jiang Zemin and US President George W. Bush, especially the one in October this year,were of great significance in developing a constructive cooperative bilateral relationship.

Vice-President Hu Jintao also visited the United States earlier this year.

China and the United States had made progress in various fields including counter-terrorism, trade and economics, science and technology, energy and environmental protection as well as consultation and cooperation on major international and regional issues, and the bilateral ties has kept a good momentum, Liang said.

Military ties between the two countries were an important component of bilateral relations, he said.

Liang said he was pleased to see China and the United States reached consensus on resuming exchanges between the two militaries during Jiang's last US visit.

Senior Chinese and US military officials had frank and fruitful discussions during their fifth round of defense talks at vice ministerial level. The talks had promoted mutual understanding, widened consensus and boosted Sino-US military relations, Liang said.

China was willing to promote military relations on the basis of mutual trust and benefits and improved understanding, he said.

He also said the Taiwan issue continued to be the most important and sensitive issue of Sino-US relations.

He said China had noted and appreciated that senior officials of the US government and armed forces said many times that the United States would keep to the one-China policy and not support "Taiwan's independence".

China expected the United States to honor its commitments to the Chinese government and properly settle the Taiwan issue and play a constructive role in the peaceful reunification of China, he said.

Fargo said he was pleased to visit China when the US-China fifth round of defense talks at vice ministerial level had just ended.

He said frank discussions and dialogues between the two nations and two armed forces were good for regional and global peace and stability.

Fargo said though a bump had occurred in bilateral relations, the two nations could solve it whenever it happened as they had set up a dialogue mechanism. He said he hoped this mechanism would be further strengthened.

The US stance on the Taiwan issue was very clear that the US government would adhere to the one-China policy and did not support "Taiwan's independence", Fargo said.

Fargo arrived in Beijing on Thursday. He will start his visit to Chengdu, Nanjing, Shanghai and Ningbo on Saturday.

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