Top Chinese general attends joint forum with US counterparts

A top Chinese general attended the opening on Monday of a regional armed forces health forum organized by the Chinese and US militaries, as the two sides set aside friction over trade issues.

This week’s Asia Pacific Military Health Exchange in Xi’an, Northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, has about 600 participants, with military officers from 28 countries, including US allies like Japan and Australia attending.

General Song Puxuan, head of China’s Central Military Commission’s Logistics Support Department, posed for pictures with Terry M. Rauch, acting US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, at the opening ceremony in one of Xi’an’s upmarket hotels.

China has been keen to highlight its cooperation with the US military, despite a bitter trade war and US involvement in the disputed South China Sea.

Song’s colleague, Chen Jingyuan, head of health at the Logistics Support Department, said the conference had improved relationships between the doctors and militaries of different nations.

“This is the first exchange between the Chinese and US militaries on military health for the Asia Pacific, and has attracted high attention from the Asia-Pacific nations,” Chen said.

Rear Admiral Louis C. Tripoli, Command Surgeon of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, thanked the People’s Liberation Army for its efforts in arranging the conference.

“We hope that you feel how important it is for us to be here,” Tripoli said.

At the event, which features mostly technical discussions on preventing disease and treating injuries, China’s armed forces will show off new equipment used for medical purposes, such as aircraft and vehicles.

When the United States withdrew an invitation to China to a major US-hosted naval drill in May, China said that closing the door does not promote mutual trust and cooperation.

The Rim of the Pacific exercise, known as RIMPAC and previously attended by China, is billed as the world’s largest international maritime exercise and held every two years in Hawaii in June and July.

The Pentagon said the withdrawal of the invitation was in response to what it sees as Beijing’s militarization of islands in the South China Sea, which China has dismissed.