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Liang's discussions with his US counterpart, Leon Panetta, wereexpected to focus on the growing military rivalry between the twocountries, while American officials planned to steer clear of thecase of blind rights campaigner Chen Guangcheng. "We're not planning on raising it" during the first visit toWashington by a Chinese minister of defense in nine years, a seniordefense official said. Chen's fate was a subject for US diplomatsat the State Department, not the Pentagon, the official added. Chen dramatically escaped house arrest and took refuge at the USembassy in Beijing on April 26, creating a dilemma for bothgovernments just days before the arrival of US Secretary of StateHillary Clinton. At the end of her visit, Clinton said she struck a deal that wouldallow Chen to go to the United States with his family to study. ButChina warned the United States to take measures to avoid a repeatof the Chen incident. The Pentagon has long sought to forge a stronger security dialoguewith China's top brass but defense relations have remained anon-again-off-again affair, with Chen's situation threatening toovershadow Liang's visit. Accompanied by a 24-member delegation including an array of seniorofficers, Liang was greeted with a US honor guard standing atattention on the steps of the Pentagon, while a Marine Corps bandclad in red and white played the national anthems of each country. The talks were due to touch on North Korea's nuclear program,maritime disputes in the South China Sea and US concerns aboutcyber threats allegedly coming from China, the senior defenseofficial said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The cyber issue is an important area for dialogue and discussionwith the Chinese government and the Chinese military in particular.We obviously have some concerns about some cyber behavior thatappears to originate in China," the official said. Before his meeting with Liang, the US defense secretary said in aninterview over the weekend that his priority remained improvingmilitary-to-military relations. But he acknowledged that Chen'scase and human rights would be addressed by his colleagues at theState Department. Speaking to Bloomberg Television, Panetta said that "the purpose ofthese discussions is to also indicate our concerns, and one ofthose concerns, obviously, relates to human rights and I suspectthat the State Department is making very clear to the Chinese ourconcerns in that area." Apart from the turbulence surrounding the Chinese dissident,Liang's visit comes at a delicate moment with Beijing irritatedwith Washington's stance on the South China Sea and Taiwan. Military contacts between China and the United States were brokenoff by Beijing in early 2010 when Washington unveiled a $6 billionarms contract with Taiwan, which China claims as its territory. Contacts were resumed at the end of the year shortly before then USdefense secretary Robert Gates visited Beijing in January 2011. But the White House, under pressure from some lawmakers, saidrecently it will give "serious consideration" to selling new USfighter jets to Taiwan. With China and the Philippines locked in a territorial dispute overthe South China Sea, the United States also has plans to doublemilitary assistance to Manila, a move criticized by Beijing. The United States, which is increasingly worried about Beijing'smounting military strength, has sought to build up ties with theChinese armed forces to avoid possible misunderstandings and defusetensions. Beijing, however, has rejected suggestions its military has adopteda more aggressive stance. "China seeks no hegemony and its defense policy is defensive innature. Beijing does not deserve Washington's ill-groundedsuspicion over China's peaceful development," state-run Xinhua newsagency wrote in a commentary. For his a week-long visit, Liang arrived in San Francisco on Fridayand toured a US naval station on Saturday in San Diego, where hegot a first-hand look at an American destroyer. Liang is scheduled to visit a US Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeunein North Carolina, an Army base at Fort Benning in South Carolinaand the West Point military academy in New York before departingThursday. I am an expert from cmoscctvcamera.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Indoor CCTV Camera , Surveillance Dome Cameras, IP CCTV Cameras,and more.
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