Chinese defense minister urges improved military ties in meeting with U.S. lawmakers

Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun on Monday urged concrete actions to improve military-to-military relations between China and the United States during a meeting in Beijing with a delegation of U.S. lawmakers led by Congressman Adam Smith, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.

Dong reiterated the recent phone call between the two heads of state, saying that China and the U.S. are fully capable of achieving mutual success and common prosperity, bringing benefits to both countries and the world.

He expressed the hope that members of the U.S. Congress would overcome interference and restrictive factors, adopt constructive and pragmatic measures, and play a positive role in improving military-to-military relations and advancing China-U.S. relations in the right direction.

Dong underlined that the Chinese military stands ready to work with the U.S. military to build a relationship featuring equality, mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and stable development, while firmly safeguarding China's sovereignty, security and development interests.

He called on both sides to keep channels of communication open and take concrete actions to promote the stable, sound, and sustainable development of relations between the two countries and their militaries.

(Cover: National flags of China and the United States. /VCG)