Liang Guanglie holds talks with Australian counterpart

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Australia and at the invitation of Liang Guanglie, state councilor and minister of national defense of the People's Republic of China, Stephen Smith, Australian defense minister, visited China from June 5 to 7, 2012. Liang Guanglie held talks with Stephen Smith on the afternoon of June 6 in Beijing.

The two sides held frank and fruitful talks on the China-Australia bilateral and defense relations, regional security and other issues of common concern. The two sides held that both China and Australia are important countries in the Asia-Pacific region and share common interests and aspirations in maintaining the peace, stability and development in the Asia-Pacific region. The development of the positive and mutual-beneficial China-Australia defense relationship is in the fundamental interests of the two countries.

The two sides held that the defense relations between the two countries are an important component of the relations between the two countries, and reiterated the significance in developing positive and mutual-beneficial defense relations. The two sides will continue to maintain the high-level contacts and dialogue and agreed to seek the opportunities for regular dialogues between the defense ministers of the two countries.

The Australian side invited the Chinese defense minister to visit Australia in 2013. The Chinese side invited the commander of the Australian National Defense Forces and the secretary-general of the Australian Defense Ministry to visit China in 2012 to participate in the 15th Defense Strategic Consultation.

The two sides agreed to further deepen the pragmatic cooperation between the two militaries in various fields. The two sides affirmed the success of the 1st China-Australia humanitarian rescue and disaster relief joint drill titled "Spirit of Cooperation 2011" conducted in November 2011 in Sichuan province, China. Stephen Smith formally invited the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) to participate in the "Spirit of Cooperation 2012" joint drill to be held later this year in Australia.

The two sides are satisfied with the Australian "Ballarat" frigate's visit to China not long ago. The Australian side welcomes the Chinese naval escort taskforce to visit Australia later this year as scheduled on its way back to China after wrapping up the naval escort missions in the Gulf of Aden. The two sides agreed to exchange the experience in the anti-pirate operations during this visit.

The Australian side welcomed China to make continuous and positive contributions to international security, including dispatching peacekeeping troops to participate in the United Nations' peacekeeping missions in South Sudan, Liberia and others. The two sides agreed to discuss the possibility of holding bilateral peacekeeping drills in the future.

The two sides agreed to strengthen the exchange in military cultural field so as to promote the understanding of each other's military cultures. The two sides also agreed to strengthen the exchanges between the personnel of the training organizations, the defense departments and the academic fields of the two militaries, including language and technical training courses.

Duncan Edward Lewis, secretary-general of the Australian Defense Ministry, and David John Hurley, commander of the Australian National Defense Forces, accompanied Stephen Smith during the visit to China.