' n1 e5 i* ~ h& ], S$ m S2 l 佩斯一行是今年访华的第一个美国高级军事代表团，也是佩斯2005年就任美军参联会主席以来首次访华。 / W, d$ N& U4 z# O$ |+ @2 D5 x; k; N- x3 }; ~3 U. e3 b, b
U.S. general says Beijing 'hotline' possible 3 f! o3 x7 Z9 H% n- y0 | w, Q. h + `3 m$ l* L5 ?# ABEIJING — China's military is proposing officer exchanges and other confidence-building measures with the U.S. Army and may be inching closer to setting up a “hotline” for emergency communication with Washington, the top U.S. general said Friday. $ C T& X7 s/ G$ g+ | - {7 R2 [3 m$ A$ [# OHowever, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he received no new information in meetings with Chinese military chiefs about Beijing's test of an anti-satellite weapon in January that raised concern in Washington. He said he continued to press China's generals for more transparency about the aims of their military buildup.$ J8 B2 [8 n! U) i z8 C2 @
" z; F8 I( A! u6 G L* [1 o- F- f0 |“I used the example of the anti-satellite test as how sometimes the international community can be confused, because it was a surprise that China did that, and it wasn't clear what their intent was,” Gen. Pace said. # W$ { H* K' R" u( h " l* O5 m/ z" h9 b+ {- `# UGen. Pace said he immediately agreed to study the proposals put forward Friday by Gen. Liang Guanglie, chief of the PLA's General Staff Department. Liang's move suggested a departure from the skepticism with which the highly secretive People's Liberation Army has long regarded co-operation with the U.S. military.1 k* m7 F7 `0 S
- F1 O4 ?" X! \9 t& C4 x“To me this was a very good, open discussion and one that I found very encouraging,” Gen. Pace told reporters in Beijing.( t4 u9 g" h6 z4 w5 P4 ] z
, u4 H7 X; u# N* ^8 J+ s0 q; sGen. Liang's proposals included sending Chinese cadets to the Army academy at West Point as well as participating in joint exercises and humanitarian and relief-at-sea operations “that might be able to build trust and confidence amongst our forces.” ; k; c! ^1 \" a; V # h4 a i" t3 x! f( E6 ]Military exchanges were largely suspended following a collision between a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese jet fighter over the South China Sea in 2001. The Chinese pilot was killed and the U.S. crew held captive after making an emergency landing at a Chinese air base. ! ~3 X9 _; ]8 L2 N1 J . o- f( U" z$ x. gDuring that crisis, communication between the sides was spotty and at times non-existent, largely because Washington had no direct channel of communications with the Chinese leadership.7 C& S5 |; y4 z- ^- N* r
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Gen. Pace said the sides agreed to keep discussing setting up a “hotline” between either military or civilian leaders that would help ease any future friction.( p8 |/ A7 [6 n- O8 ]
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“The Chinese military understands as well as I do that the opportunity to pick up the phone and talk to somebody you know and smooth out misunderstandings quickly is a very important part of relations between two countries,” Gen. Pace said.- \: U$ h7 N& @: }& N: G
* @3 D$ e# G! Z" {8 BDeep mistrust remains, however, particularly over Washington's close military ties with Japan and commitment to help ensure the defence of Taiwan, the self-governing island that China considers its own territory and which it has threatened to use force to recover. . s" f% [. b% e, g- D" T # f% f7 r' L' Z( {9 aChina has complained about U.S. plans to sell a batch of more than 400 missiles to Taiwan, but Gen. Pace said he had no details and didn't indicate whether the deal was mentioned in discussions.$ q8 a5 {- h$ W& Q" Y8 i# S; b
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Asked about the possibility of a conflict over Taiwan, he said: “I believe there are good faith efforts among all the leadership to prevent that.”* }& V5 Z' m, M* R- e: ]0 k s
3 E3 @/ m2 [$ N5 u/ M. a/ ]' PThe general didn't say how the Chinese officers responded to his calls for more transparency. China raised its military budget by 17.8 per cent this year to about $45-billion (U.S.) -- the biggest jump since 1995. The Pentagon says actual Chinese defence spending could be twice as high.& w6 f# t. E" E* c0 B9 j- w3 Z
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The spending boost and January's satellite test, in which China became only the third country to destroy an object in space by pulverizing one of its own unused satellites with a missile warhead, heightened the sense of unease in Washington over China's 2.3 million-member armed forces. @/ m' T e% h0 X6 q
1 d8 T. x5 s. x2 ~' fChairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace inspects the guard of honor during a welcome ceremony at the Defence Ministry in Beijing March 22, 2007.
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