Font size: 
Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace arrived in Beijing on Mar. 22 for a four-day trip to China at the invitation of his counterpart in the People's Liberation Army, General Liang Guanglie.
China's state-run media reported Thursday that Pace and Liang held closed-door talks at the Bayi Building, headquarters of the Central Military Commission, the country's most powerful military organization, which has separate structures for the Communist Party and the national government apparatus. Pace also met with China's Minister of Defense Gen. Cao Gangchuan and Gen. Guo Boxiong, a CMC Vice Chairman, according to Xinhua news agency.
Besides Beijing, the U.S. general is scheduled to visit two of China's seven regional military commands, in Shenyang and Nanjing. Both are key areas that would be involved in any conflict between the two countries over flashpoints such as North Korea (Shenyang) or Taiwan (Nanjing).
After meeting with members of the PLA's Academy of Military Science on Friday, Pace held a news conference telling reporters he'd had "a good open dialogue" about military activities and things "we can do together to build trust and confidence." He mentioned establishing a hotline telephone link, possible cadet and officer exchanges, having observers at military exercises, plus joint humanitarian relief and sea rescue operations.
Pace believes the Chinese military wants good relations with the United States, and said he was "committed" to reciprocating such sentiments.
However, both sides are using the Pace visit to voice major concerns about the other. The U.S. general characterized the atmosphere of meetings with PLA officials thus far as being "open, candid, calm discussions about things that are obstacles to us having closer relations."
"We talked about how, as military men, we might be able to help our countries work our way through those obstacles," he added.
Transparency -- another way of saying accurate information -- is the biggest problem for the U.S. side, both civilian and military, when it comes to assessing China's armed forces.
This is Pace's first visit to China. As head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since Sept. 2005, he is the principal military advisor to the president, secretary of defense, and National Security Council.
The general told reporters in Beijing his biggest fear for the future was "a miscalculation or misunderstanding based on disinformation."
"To ensure that there is not a miscalculation, you want to focus on how to foster the kind of information flow that allows individuals, institutions and countries to understand each other better," he added.
Pace cited the example of China's anti-satellite missile test in January this year, saying it "wasn't clear what their intent was, and when things are not clear and there are surprises, it tends to raise suspicions." He said the two sides would work toward improved communications to prevent such suspicions from arising.
Asked if he was worried about China's military buildup, Pace said military analysts looked at two things: the country's capacity and its intent.
"Clearly both China and the United States have enormous military capacity; but equally clear is that neither has the intent to go to war with the other. So absent intent, I don't find threat," Pace said.
On the topic of China's key strategic concern, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, "Not surprisingly, in each of my discussions, the issue of Taiwan came up. It's clearly a fundamental issue for the government here in China; we respect the fundamental nature of that issue."
Each time Chinese generals brought up Taiwan, Pace said he reiterated the Bush Administration's support for a one-China policy, the three communiqués, the Taiwan Relations Act, a peaceful resolution to the issue and the president's opposition to Taiwan independence.
A statement issued by China's Defense Ministry after the Pace meeting quoted Gen. Liang saying the PLA views Taiwan as "an inalienable part of Chinese territory" which had bearing on the "core interests and sentiments of 1.3 billion Chinese people."
While China's military is keeping "a close watch on Taiwan secessionists' actions and attempts," Liang promised the PLA would make "utmost efforts to safeguard the stability of the Taiwan Strait and push for a peaceful unification of the motherland."
Noting his meetings were a "baseline" for future comparison, General Pace is making one of the most important surveys for global peace and stability by visiting China now.
