Mattis, Chinese avoid touchy subjects
Unified military goals emphasized at meeting
BEIJING — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Chinese leaders struck a largely positive public tone Wednesday, talking up increased military cooperation and open dialogue between the two powers despite security tensions and an impending trade war.
Mattis was on his first trip to China since taking the lead at the Pentagon. He met President Xi Jinping and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe. In public comments, the two sides avoided mention of the topics that have recently dominated the relationship and ate up portions of the talks — Taiwan, Chinese militarization of the South China Sea and North Korea’s nuclear program.
Instead, they focused on the importance of the U.s.-china military relationship — which Xi, who also heads the commission overseeing the People’s Liberation Army, called the “model component of our overall bilateral relations.”
“This is an important time in the history of China and the United States as we work our way forward,” Mattis said as he sat with Xi in front of a bank of cameras and photographers before their private meeting. “It reminds me just how important this is for both of our nations. So I’m here to keep our relationship on a great trajectory, going in the right direction, and to share ideas with your leadership, your military leadership, as we look at the way ahead.”
But the military relationship hasn’t been plain sailing either. Last month, the Pentagon withdrew its invitation for China to participate in a multinational naval exercise in what it called “an initial response” to China’s fortressing of man-made islands in the South China Sea. Mattis also sharply criticized China’s conduct in that strategic waterway at an international security forum this month.
U.S. officials described the talks as candid but successful. Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general, said the U.S. assigns the same degree of importance to the military relationship as China, and said the dialogue was “very open and honest.”
“Areas of disagreement were identified but not necessarily dwelled on,” said Randy Schriver, assistant defense secretary for Asian and Pacific security affairs, who attended the meetings.