Liang Guanglie, member of the Central Military Commission and chief of general staff of the PLA, met with Air Marshal Geoff Shepherd, commander of the Australian Air Force yesterday afternoon in Beijing.

　　Liang Guanglie said since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Australia in 1972, the bilateral relations between the two countries have developed smoothly, featuring constant enhancement of political mutual trust between the two countries. In recent years, there have been frequent exchange of high-level visits between the PLA and the Australian Armed Forces, and the strategic consultations and exchanges in specialized fields between the two militaries have been lively as well. China attaches great importance to developing its relations with Australia from a strategic point of view and is willing to actively implement the agreements reached by the leaders of the two countries and deepen the cooperative relations between the two militaries so as to enable our relations to become a model of mutually beneficial co-operation between the militaries of the countries with different social systems and different cultural backgrounds.

　　Liang also briefed his guests on the development of the PLA and China's principled stand on the Taiwan issue.

　　Geoff Shepherd expressed his full agreement of Liang's appraisal of the relations between the two countries and the two militaries. He also expressed his appreciation of the active role China has played in international affairs. He said that Australian side is willing to work together with the Chinese side to advance the development of the existing friendly cooperative relations between the two militaries to a higher level. He also reiterated that the Australian Government would, as always, stick to the one-China policy.

　　Qiao Qingchen, member of the Central Military Commission and commander of the PLA Air Force, was present during the meeting.

　　By Luo Zheng

　　(Jun 19, PLA Daily)