Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of general staff of the PLA, met with Dennis Blair, former commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, and the delegation led by him, yesterday in Beijing. Blair and his delegation have come to China to attend the Third "China-U.S. Strategic Nuclear Relationship and Strategic Mutual Trust" Seminar.

　　Ma Xiaotian spoke highly of the successful holding of the seminar and indicated that to carry out nuclear strategic dialogue and exchanges between the two sides is conducive to enhancing the strategic mutual trust and promoting the development of ties between the two countries and the two militaries.

　　Ma Xiaotian also said that the military ties between China and the U.S. have seen good growth on the whole in recent years, as evidenced by frequent exchange of high-level visits, steady progress of mechanism-based exchanges and cooperation between military educational institutions, and gradually unfolding of exchanges in specialized fields. The Chinese side is willing to work together with the U.S. side to strengthen contacts, enhance mutual trust, and deepen cooperation so as to promote the further development of the relations between the two militaries.

　　Blair first expressed his sympathy and solicitude to the victims of Wenchuan earthquake and paid tribute to the PLA for the excellent performance in the disaster relief operations. He said that the two sides should further strengthen the exchanges and contacts in various fields and at different levels and push for the deep-going development of ties between the two countries and the two militaries.

　　Guan Youfei, deputy director general of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Ministry of National Defense, and Chen Zhiya, secretary-general of the China Foundation for International Strategic Studies (FISS), were present at the meeting.

　　Blair and his delegation have come to China to attend the Third "China-U.S. Strategic Nuclear Relationship and Strategic Mutual Trust" Seminar from June 9-12 at the invitation of FISS.

　　By Zhang Shun

　　(June 12, PLA Daily)                                                Editor: Chen Jie