WASHINGTON, July 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush met Guo
Boxiong, China's top general, at the White House on Thursday and the two
exchanged views on international and regional security as well as relations
between the two nations and the two armed forces.
During the meeting, Guo, vice chairman of China's Central Military
Commission (CMC), conveyed best wishes to Bush from Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Guo said the purpose of his visit to the United States was to implement the
consensus reached by Bush and Hu on increasing exchanges and cooperation between
the two armed forces during Hu's visit to the United States in April.
He said that the relationship between the two armed forces will be deepened
by enhancing mutual understanding and trust, fostering friendship and increasing
cooperation.
Gaining attentions and momentums directly from the presidents of the two
nations, the current relationship between the two armed forces is the best in
recent years, and the prospect will be brighter with joint efforts from both
sides, he noted.
Guo also reaffirmed China's position on the Taiwan issue.
Bush said he actively supports closer ties between the two armed forces and
would like to see more military-to-military exchanges and visits.
He noted that the U.S. position on the Taiwan issue is very clear, and the
U.S. government will continue to adhere to the three joint communiques between
the United States and China and is opposed to any attempts to unilaterally
change the status quo across the Taiwan Straits.
During a separate meeting with Stephen Hadley, Bush's national security
adviser, earlier on Thursday, Guo gave high marks on the current relationship
between the two armed forces.
He noted that during Hu's successful visit to the United States in April,
the presidents of the two nations reached an important consensus on how to
promote the constructive cooperation between the two sides in all areas in the
21st century.
Guo also pointed out that although the bilateral military relationship has
been continuously improved in recent years, its development still lags behind
that of the overall relationship between the two countries.
The general hoped that the U.S. side will properly handle the Taiwan issue,
stop upgrading its military ties with Taiwan and halt sales of advanced weapons
to Taiwan, so as not to send wrong signals to Taiwan's secessionists.
Hadley said he is glad to see that Guo's visit has yielded many positive
results.
He stressed that the U.S. side attaches great importance to China-U.S.
relations and would like to see active exchanges and cooperation between the two
armed forces.
Guo, who started his week-long visit to the United States Sunday night,
arrived in Washington Monday night and will fly to New York to continue his
visit.