BEIJING, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- China's defense minister said his country is ready to expand military ties with the United States during a meeting with a Congressional delegation Tuesday.
Cao Gangchuan was quoted by state-controlled media as saying the expansion of military-to-military relations had to be on the basis of mutual benefit and equal consultation. Such ties serve as an important component of the overall Sino-U.S. relationship, he noted.
"We are glad to see our military ties gradually resume and develop in recent years with joint efforts of both sides," Cao said.
He said the visit by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in October 2005 "played a positive role in strengthening mutual understanding and cementing military ties."
Cao's comments came during a meeting with Reps. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., and Rick Larsen, D-Wash., co-chairmen of the U.S.-China Working Group. The group is a bipartisan congressional organization created in June 2005 to build diplomatic relations with China and increase engagement on China-related issues.
The frequency and level of contact between the two militaries have been spasmodic since Washington halted arms sales to China following the Tiananmen Massacre in June 1989.
Military links were frozen after U.S. warplanes mistakenly bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in May 1999. Ties were at a virtual standstill following the collision of a Chinese jet fighter and U.S. surveillance plane over the South China Sea in April 2001.
Cao, a general in the People's Liberation Army, is also a vice-chairman on the Communist Party's Central Military Commission and a state councilor in the national government.
