Wu Shengli meets with U.S. Navy Secretary

Wu Shengli, member of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and commander of the Navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), met with Ray Mabus, the visiting secretary of the United States Navy, on the afternoon of November 27, 2012 in Beijing.

Wu Shengli said that as the most important bilateral relations in the world, the China-U.S. relations have a vital influence on the Asian-Pacific region and the world at large. To establish bilateral relations featuring equality, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation is what the people of the two countries and even the people of the world prefer to see. The PLA Navy attaches great importance to the development of the relations between the two navies, and has been devoted to improving China-U.S. consultation mechanism for maritime military safety, hoping to enhance mutual understanding and trust between the two navies and to avoid maritime accidents, misunderstandings and misjudgments through communication and cooperation. He also briefed Mabus on the situation of the trial voyage of China's first aircraft carrier, the "Liaoning Ship", and the flight training of carrier-borne planes on the carrier, and expressed his hope that the two sides will strengthen cooperation in such fields as joint military exercise and training, reciprocal visits among warships, escort in the Gulf of Aden, search and rescue, and exchanges among academies.

Wu Shengli also expressed that in recent years, the China-U.S. relations have maintained stable momentum of development on the whole, but some problems and misunderstandings have also existed, and there are still many difficulties on the road ahead. The achievements in China's national defense and army building have invited suspicions and speculations in recent years. It is the last thing China and the U.S. expect to see that a lack of trust between the two sides causes mutual suspicions and even triggers maritime insecurities. Besides, he also exchanged his views on such issues as freedom of navigation in the South China Sea with Mabus.

Mabus said that the U.S. side attaches great importance to its relations with the Chinese side and hopes that the two navies will continue to strengthen exchanges and cooperation at various levels and in various fields and enhance mutual trust, so as to promote healthy and positive development of the relations between the two navies.

Mabus is the first one to visit China as the secretary of the U.S. Navy in last 28 years. Mabus and his party will also visit the East China Sea Fleet of the PLA Navy and its warships and hospital ship.