Chinese Minister of Defense Liang Guanglie (梁光烈) told a Pentagon press conference on Monday that there had been “a kind of turnover” in US-China military relations since Washington announced a new arms package to Taiwan in September last year.
Liang, who was speaking following meetings with US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and earlier in the day with Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, seemed to indicate that despite the sale, the relationship had improved.
While it is believed that arms sales to Taiwan were raised by the Chinese side at both meetings, no details were given during the joint Liang-Panetta press conference.
Photo: CNA
Neither mentioned Taiwan during formal opening statements.
However, in answer to one of the two questions that were allowed, Liang said: “Ever since last year — when the United States launched its new round of arms sales to Taiwan — we have postponed some of the engagement programs, including my visit to the United States and Secretary Panetta’s visit to China.”
“And here, I’m visiting the United States now, and I have invited Secretary Panetta to visit China later this year, which I would believe is a kind of turnover in the China-US military relationship even after the US arms sales to Taiwan,” he said.
Prior to Liang’s Washington meetings, US officials told the Taipei Times that they fully expected that the general would object to any future arms sales to Taiwan.
In particular, they expected him to ask for “clarification” on the recent White House promise to give “serious consideration” to selling F-16C/D aircraft to Taiwan.
Sources close to the administration of US President Barack Obama said the US would simply reply that as in the past they were obliged to fulfill their obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act.
However, what happened in the actual closed-door meetings is not known.
Panetta said his meeting with Liang had been “very productive” and that he had expressed a commitment to “achieving and maintaining a healthy, stable, reliable and continuous” military-to--military relationship with China.
“On regional security challenges, we talked about North Korea and other areas,” he said.
The discussion had included maritime areas, cyberspace, nuclear proliferation and missile -defense, Panetta said.
“We recognize that the United States and China will not always agree on every issue, but we believe our military-to-military dialogue is critical to ensuring that we avoid dangerous misunderstandings and misperceptions that could lead to [a] crisis,” he said.
“A positive, cooperative, comprehensive United States-China relationship is absolutely essential to achieving a secure Asia--Pacific region,” Panetta said.
Liang said he had an in-depth and candid discussion with Burns on the international security situation.
He said that discussions with Panetta had been “deep” and that both sides had committed to building a sound, stable and reliable military-to-military relationship.
“The China-US bilateral relationship is on a new starting line in history to build a new type of China-US military relationship based on equality, cooperation and mutual benefit,” Liang said.
He said China wanted to work with the US to “respect each other’s core interests and major concerns and to properly handle disagreements and differences.”
Liang is the first Chinese defense minister to visit the US in nine years.
His six-day trip, which ends tomorrow, has included stops at the San Diego naval base, Southern Command in Florida, Fort Benning in Georgia and other military sites.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and Chunghwa Telecom yesterday confirmed that an international undersea cable near Keelung Harbor had been cut by a Chinese ship, the Shunxin-39, a freighter registered in Cameroon. Chunghwa Telecom said the cable had its own backup equipment, and the incident would not affect telecommunications within Taiwan. The CGA said it dispatched a ship under its first fleet after receiving word of the incident and located the Shunxin-39 7 nautical miles (13km) north of Yehliu (野柳) at about 4:40pm on Friday. The CGA demanded that the Shunxin-39 return to seas closer to Keelung Harbor for investigation over the
An apartment building in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) collapsed last night after a nearby construction project earlier in the day allegedly caused it to tilt. Shortly after work began at 9am on an ongoing excavation of a construction site on Liuzhang Street (六張街), two neighboring apartment buildings tilted and cracked, leading to exterior tiles peeling off, city officials said. The fire department then dispatched personnel to help evacuate 22 residents from nine households. After the incident, the city government first filled the building at No. 190, which appeared to be more badly affected, with water to stabilize the
EARTHQUAKE: Taipei and New Taipei City accused a construction company of ignoring the Circular MRT’s original design, causing sections to shift by up to 92cm The Taipei and New Taipei City governments yesterday said they would seek NT$1.93 billion (US$58.6 million) in compensation from the company responsible for building the Circular MRT Line, following damage sustained during an earthquake in April last year that had shuttered a section for months. BES Engineering Corp, a listed company under Core Pacific Group, was accused of ignoring the original design when constructing the MRT line, resulting in negative shear strength resistance and causing sections of the rail line between Jhonghe (中和) and Banciao (板橋) districts to shift by up to 92cm during the April 3 earthquake. The pot bearings on
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
RSS