US to start new era of military cooperation with China
Gates’ words are in sharp contrast to Beijing’s official reaction to the 2009 Report on International Religious Freedom released by the US Department of State released on Monday. At a weekly press conference, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry criticised the positions expressed in the report on alleged repression in Tibet and Xinjiang, insisting it was an internal matter and that no foreign nation had a right to interfere.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had expressed similar views back in February during an official visit to China. On that occasion, she did not mention human rights violations in the country.
For a number of analysts, Clinton’ silence was directly related to US government need to keep China happy in order to reach new economic deals that might help the United States crawl its way out of its economic morass.
President Barack Obama’s failure to meet the Dalai Lama a few days before he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize is another example of this attitude.
General Xu’s weeklong visit is the latest in a series of steps taken to improve military cooperation between the two countries.
In the last few years, Sino-US relations had ups and downs. Beijing has objected to the Taiwan Defence Act, which requires the United States to help Taiwan defend itself in case of an attack from mainland China. Mainland China is also opposed to the presence of US Navy ships in the waters off its coast, which it considers within its own economic exclusion zone.
By contrast, Secretary Gates and Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell took a more conciliatory note. Responding to General Xu’s four “major obstacles” to better Sino-US relations—, namely, US military support for Taiwan, the presence of US surveillance ships in waters Beijing considers part of its economic exclusion zone, a lack of mutual trust and legal barriers for military exchanges—the two US officials said it was important to openly discuss such issues to ensure that matters never get out hand.
Last year, because of a number of hiccups, both sides lost out on lucrative deals, Morrell said. Beijing also cut military exchanges with Washington for months over a proposed US$ 6.5 billion US arms package to Taiwan.
Xu welcomed the US position and invited Gates to visit China next year, along with the top US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, and the new head of US Pacific Command, Admiral Robert Willard.
Talks will focus on regional issues. Japan has asked the US to pull its marines from the Okinawa base, one of the most effective deterrents it has against mainland China.
President Obama and his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, will discuss such issues when they meet next month in Beijing.
In addition to climate change, first topic on their agenda, the two leaders will discuss economic and military cooperation.
Human rights organisations have called on the US leader to ask Hu to answer questions about human rights violations in China. So far, the White House has not agreed.
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