2 o2 T) {# N: a9 l3 g+ ^ 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。 " N4 m* [; v7 W/ m ; c4 ^" X$ d9 u D! C, {+ I: }. VU.S. general says Beijing 'hotline' possible6 r% O' |4 @, U; l) |
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BEIJING — 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. 0 m8 ~5 e8 D2 n# L( n; v2 v9 Z+ X/ y. i% q
However, 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. 6 N) T% ]' E x- K- x& g. S. @7 K& a
“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. 3 [( p8 t( c* y' }* m8 T% I ' q1 ?# d' b x0 |+ M; ZGen. 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. 6 d' J( A9 y2 h* @% ]# N, i1 ]; s
“To me this was a very good, open discussion and one that I found very encouraging,” Gen. Pace told reporters in Beijing. ' y' H8 a; |/ }* l3 y) k5 u5 X * e2 W; ]# c, P+ _- oGen. 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.”9 p8 Q% i% @" f0 `; V4 Y
- \1 J: n& n8 D5 J0 \5 p. D8 tMilitary 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.' C& k* R7 U" [5 [& g* A8 n3 Q
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During 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.% ?2 v) ~) h4 \8 K3 b3 U
( D, G8 R& p9 \( c2 TGen. 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. 5 z) l$ M/ I. G; ?, k0 c0 L" h * S! I6 W/ J% B, ]6 w“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.7 K! g3 @# e8 R% Y
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Deep 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. 8 I! t$ J8 N) r6 \! C; V1 n% _3 X( D% e( `( m
China 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. & q0 K# n& b7 i2 a. F6 s# e2 r" x. Q
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.”- H& x" w" m+ P0 @& d/ g" b
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The 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 $45-billion (U.S.) -- the biggest jump since 1995. The Pentagon says actual Chinese defence spending could be twice as high. ) E8 E/ [5 l, O, ^6 o3 G8 K% I 3 a$ L4 r, u R: rThe 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.: A" x8 Q' @/ [) r1 A" o
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$ W/ [2 V- E# d) R: ~1 H0 Y% x: v QChairman 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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图片附件: [Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace] Pace.jpg (2007-3-24 09:32, 54.9 KB) / 下载次数 124