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Rumsfeld holds candid talks with China defense chief
(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2005-10-19 16:50
Calling U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's visit a "big event," Beijing said the two large and important countries have a broad range of shared interests and a solid footing for building cooperation.
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (L) and Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan share a light moment as they attend a welcoming ceremony at the Chinese Defense Ministry in Beijing October 19, 2005. [Reuters] |
Defense Minister General Cao Gangchuan told a joint press conference in Beijing Wednesday that China's priority was to develop the economy and raise the living standards. China is in no position to project military power and race militarily with the United States.
Rumsfeld said his meeting with Cao was "constructive, candid and useful."
"I sense a desire on the part of the minister to find activities and ways we can work with each other that will contribute to demystifying what we see of them and what they see of us," Secretary Rumsfeld said.
The atmosphere surrounding Rumsfeld's visit appeared friendly and optimistic, the Associated Press reported.
Rumsfeld applauded China's dramatic economic successes, noting that when he first visited Beijing in 1974 as President Gerald R. Ford's chief of staff, the streets were filled with bicycles, not cars.
In his prepared opening remarks, Rumsfeld, echoing a Pentagon Report on China's military sent to Congress earlier, said China is raising global suspicion because its defense spending is not "transparent."
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