Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Top U.S. Defense Official: Beijing Ready To Improve Soured American Military Ties

Mattis (R) is set to meet his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe in Singapore

AFP: Beijing ready to improve soured American military ties: US

Beijing appears ready to normalise its interactions with the American military, a US defence official said Wednesday, after relations soured during a sanctions spat and trade war.

Randall Schriver, the Pentagon's assistant secretary of defence for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, said Defence Secretary Jim Mattis is set to meet his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe in Singapore on Thursday at a regional security summit.

A meeting between the two men had initially been scheduled to take place in Beijing last weekend, but it fell through after China declined to make Wei available.

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WNU Editor: U.S. Defense Secretary of Defense Mattis is optimistic that military relations will improve .... Mattis to seek more resilient U.S. ties with China's military (Reuters), and he will be meeting his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe in Singapore .... Mattis to meet Chinese counterpart amid US-China tensions (AP). As to what is my take .... I see no reason to be  optimistic. The Chinese are focused on reports like this .... The US military is planning a serious showdown with China that would be a significant show of force on tense tides and involve American warships and aircraft (Business Insider), while issuing their own threats .... China warns U.S. military to 'exercise restraint' or face consequences (Washington Times).

1 comment:

fred said...

Dear Editor--
You confuse me. In this article, the two superpowers are seemingly making nice. But in the article above this one, the cold war is heating up...I guess that then covers any possibilities of what is going on