Xu Caihou, member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the CPC
and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission met with visiting chief of
staff of the Italian navy Sergio Biraghi at the August 1 Building yesterday
afternoon.
Xu Caihou expressed his welcome to Sergio Biraghi firstly. He said that the
friendship between China and Italy and between the Chinese and Italian people
has a very long tradition. Over 30 years of the establishment of diplomatic
relations of the two countries, the bilateral ties developed smoothly and the
contacts were frequent. Both countries held the same or similar views on many
key international issues and have conducted extensive cooperation in such fields
as politics, economy, culture and military. Xu Caihou expressed that the Chinese
People’s Liberation Army valued very much the friendly cooperative ties with the
Italian armed forces and expected to lead the relation to develop in wide-range
and at multi-level.
Xu Caihou briefed the guests on the “Anti-Secession Law” adopted at
the 3rd Session of the 10th National People's Congress, China's stand on the
Taiwan Issue, China's domestic situation and the situation on China's army
building.
Biraghi said that the Chinese and Italian navies have many similarities and
he believed that the two armed forces, the two navies in particular, have many
opportunities for cooperation. The Italian navy expected to conduct more
cooperation with the Chinese navy in personnel training and experience exchange.
By Luo Zheng
(Apr.6, PLA Daily)