US, China take up military relations in Pentagon talks

US, China take up military relations in Pentagon talks
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

WASHINGTON, JAN 22: US defense Secretary William Cohen is to meet a senior Chinese military delegation at the Pentagon next week to try to revive military relations that were suspended after the US bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade last year.

The talks on Tuesday and Wednesday come at a time of strains on a number of fronts, particularly Taiwan and US missile defense programs, which have highlighted the dangers of estrangement between Washington and the Asian giant. "It's an effort to rebuild contacts and discussions between the US and the Chinese militaries," Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said last week. He said the two sides will compare their strategic assessments for the 21st century, discuss geo-political conditions in the region, and talk about their respective military modernization programs.

"We'll also talk about what sort of military relationship we should have during the year 2000," the Pentagon spokesman said. "What sort of visits there should be; whether there are exchanges of leaders; whether there are ship visits, et cetera." The Chinese delegation, led by Lieutenant General Xiong Guangkai, the deputy Chief of the Peoples Liberation Army general staff, will make office calls in Washington on Monday before sitting down with their Pentagon counterparts on Tuesday, an official said.

Cohen will meet briefly with Xiong at the end of the talks, but the Pentagon side will be led by Walter Slocombe, the undersecretary of defense for policy. The commander of US forces in the Pacific, Admiral Dennis Blair, also was in town for the talks, officials said.

US-Chinese relations have been on hold since last spring when a US B-2 bomber accidentally struck the Chinese embassy during a raid on Belgrade, killing three people and igniting anti-US protests in China. Since then, tensions have flourished between Beijing and Taipei over statements by Taiwan's outgoing President Lee Teng-hui of a "state-to-state" basis for relations with the mainland. China, angered by what it interpreted as an assertion of sovereignty, is reported to have begun enlarging a missile base at Yangang, about 440 kilometers (270 miles) from Taiwan, and establishing another short-range missile base in Xianyou only 217 kilometers (135 miles) from Taiwan. Taiwan's Vice President responded to those disclosures by declaring that Taipei must develop long-rang missiles to deter China.

The Pentagon, meanwhile, is considering a Taiwanese request for four destroyers equipped with the advanced Aegis Air defense system, which could in the future serve as a platform for a missile defense system. Such a system is currently under development by the US Navy. No recommendation has been made by the Pentagon to approve the sale, but the US Pacific command in the past has supported the sale of Aegis systems to Taiwan for fleet defense, Pentagon officials said.

The commander of the US forces in the Pacific also has said the US must be able to provide Taiwan with some form of missile defense if China continues a missile buildup threatening Taipei, officials said. China, dead set against the sale of advanced systems to Taiwan, also has raised vehement objections to US-Japanese efforts to develop a regional missile defense system and Washington's proposed National Missile Defense (NMD).

Just last week, the Pentagon unsuccessfully tested the NMD system over the Pacific. Although the missile intercept attempt failed in the final seconds, the major elements of the system worked. President Bill Clinton is supposed to decide in June, after another test, whether to deploy the system by 2005. Pentagon officials said the Chinese will receive assurances that NMD is not directed at China but against ballistic missiles of rogue states like North Korea.