Maturing military ties with US help build trust

Major General Tang Ning, deputy chief for training of China's People's Liberation Army General Staff Department and Major General William Hix, deputy director of the US Army Capabilities Integration Center, sign the China-US Army-to Army Dialogue Mechanism at the National Defense University in Washington on Friday afternoon, under the witness of visiting Chinese Central Military Commission Vice-Chairman Fan Changlong and US Army Chief of Staff Raymond Odierno. Chen Weihua/China Daily

Considering that Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to pay a state visit to the United States in September and a rift over the South China Sea between Beijing and Washington has heightened tensions in the region, the significance of Vice-Chairman of Central Military Commission Fan Changlong's visit to the US last week goes far beyond bilateral military ties.

Mutual trust, cooperation, non-conflict and sustainability are the key words needed to describe the relationship between China and the US, and the consensus reached between the two militaries during Fan's visit and their joint pledges to enhance bilateral military cooperation will help deepen strategic mutual trust and avoid strategic misjudgment.

By taking concrete steps in areas where they are willing to cooperate, the two militaries will better understand each other's concerns and strategic intentions, and this in turn will help them efficiently control risks and reduce misunderstandings.

During his meeting with US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter at the Pentagon on Thursday, Fan proposed the two sides intensify the high-level military exchange visits to enhance mutual understanding and communication. For that purpose, he invited Carter and Admiral Harry B. Harris, the newly-posted head of the US Pacific Command, to China.

Frequent high-level exchange visits remain a barometer for the outside world to gauge the climate of bilateral military ties between Beijing and Washington.

Fan suggested the two sides should seek to ensure the success of the upcoming summit between the two heads of state by striving to complete the consultations on signing the Code of Safe Conduct on Naval and Air Encounters by August and actively pushing forward the construction of the mechanism on mutual reporting on major exercises.

Fan witnessed, with US Army Chief of Staff Raymond Odierno, the signing of the Army-to-Army Dialogue Mechanism at the National Defense University on Friday, a sign of the two militaries willingness to increase practical cooperation and improve the working mechanisms between them.

The fruitful results in Sino-US military exchanges indicate there is a broad terrain for Beijing and Washington to anchor their meaningful cooperation.

Smooth development of China-US ties is essential not only for the two countries, but for the whole world. For bilateral ties to prosper, dialogue and consultation are the only way to resolve differences.