Ministry of National Defense: Strategic dialogue between PLA NDU and US NDU ongoing in Washington

Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks at a regular news conference on Thursday.

Question: Recently, the defense chiefs of China and the US had an in-person meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue. What’s your comment on the current China-US military-to-military relations? Will the two sides have more exchanges in the future?

Wu Qian: Following the important consensus reached by Chinese and US heads of state last November, the two militaries have steadily resumed dialogues and consultation on the basis of equality and respect and achieved some positive and tangible results. On the margins of this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD), China’s Defense Minister and US Secretary of Defense met in person and they had a positive, substantive and constructive discussion on topics including the state-to-state and military-to-military relations, the Taiwan question and the South China Sea issue. A delegation from the PLA National Defense University (NDU) arrived in Washington D.C. on June 25th for the Strategic Dialogue with its US counterpart. The China-US military relationship has stabilized from deterioration. The momentum does not come by easily, thus both sides shall cherish it.

I want to emphasize that developing China-US military-to-military relations requires both sides to value peace, prioritize stability and uphold credibility. We hope the US side adopt a right perception of China, respect China's sovereignty, security and development interests and work with us in the same direction to pursue a stable and sound relationship.