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Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie (R) and visiting U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta attend a press briefing in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 18, 2012. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)
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BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Senior military leaders on Tuesday called for more efforts to promote military ties between China and the U.S..
"The two sides should, within the framework of building a China-U.S. cooperative partnership, promote a new type of military relations featuring equality, reciprocity and win-win cooperation in an active and pragmatic way," Defense Minister Liang Guanglie said.
Liang made the remarks during a joint press conference held with visiting U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta after their talks on bilateral military ties.
China and the U.S. should explore a path of coexistence and establish a new type of relations that corresponds to their influence, Liang said.
He called on both sides to increase mutual trust, enhance their understanding of their respective defense policies and strategic trends and increase dialogue and communication.
The two militaries need to abandon zero-sum thinking and strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, Liang said.
Both sides also need to properly solve disputes and differences and respect each other's core interests and concerns, he added.
Liang encouraged the two militaries to deepen substantial cooperation in areas of non-traditional security, such as humanitarian rescues, anti-piracy efforts and medical assistance.
Liang and Panetta exchanged views on U.S. weapon sales to Taiwan, the Diaoyu Islands, the rebalancing of U.S. policy, the South China Sea, cyberspace and outer space security.
Xu Caihou, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, also met with Panetta on Tuesday, expressing China's will to develop a new type of military ties.
Enhancing strategic mutual trust is the basis of the stable development of bilateral military ties, said Xu, adding that China hopes to engage in benign and cooperative interaction with the U.S.
Stressing that the United States and China enjoy extensive common interests, Panetta said it is conducive for both countries, the Asia-Pacific region and the entire world to maintain the healthy development of bilateral military ties.
He hailed a successful joint counter-piracy exercise conducted by the navies of both sides in the Gulf of Aden earlier this week.
"These exercises enhance the ability of our navies to work together to combat the common threat of piracy," Panetta said.
He said the United States' goal is to have the United States and China "establish the most important bilateral relationship in the world. And the key to that is to establish a strong military-to-military relationship."
Panetta arrived in Beijing Monday evening, kicking off his first visit to China as Pentagon chief.
China is the second stop on his weeklong Asia-Pacific visit, which also took him to Japan and will end with a stop in New Zealand.
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