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BEIJING (Reuters) - China praised its first joint military exercises with Russia on Friday for lifting relations to an all-time high and opening room for further cooperation. Eight days of drills involving more than 10,000 troops from the former Cold War foes' armies, navies and air forces concluded on Thursday with a practice air and ground assault in China's eastern Shandong province. The last event on the schedule was an outside "family-style lunch" of noodles, braised eggplant and fried fish washed down with beer as tank engines roared in the background, Xinhua news agency said. "Through the exercises, the two...

Chinese fleet's first visit to Guam-- heart of US forces in the Pacific   Very few Chinese have ever been to Guam. Ordinary people even have no idea about its location, except the knowledge that Guam is an important pivot on the defense line of the US army stationed in the Pacific. Media reports about Guam in recent years usually cause uneasiness to the Chinese, but now, this mysterious place is opened for the first time to Chinese warships. At the invitation of the US Navy, a naval fleet of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), composed of a...

The Pentagon visit by Gen. Cao Gangchuan was the first by a Chinese defense minister during the Bush administration, though Rumsfeld last year met with Chinese president Hu Jintao while Hu was vice president. The military leaders talked about the threat from North Korea's nuclear program, the global war on terrorism and prospects for future U.S.-Chinese military relations, defense officials said. The state of military-to-military ties between the two countries has been up and down for decades. Ties were severed after China's army-led crackdown in 1989 on student protests at Tiananmen Square. A 1994 visit to Beijing by then-Defense Secretary...

Taiwan silent on missile capable of reaching Shanghai * Warhead could also be used to attack Hong Kong, southeast coastal cities TAIPEI: Taiwan’s defence ministry was tight-lipped Wednesday on a report that the military has been quietly developing a medium-range surface-to-surface missile capable of attacking rival China’s Shanghai. The Apple Daily newspaper said the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology — the military’s weapons development unit — for the first time test-fired the missile in Chiupeng, the heavily guarded missile base in the southern Pingtung County, on September 25. The missile, designed with a range of between 600 kilometres and...

<p>Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld met yesterday with China's defense minister for the first high-level military exchange since the U.S.-China crisis involving a midair collision in April 2001.</p> <p>The defense secretary met for an hour with Chinese Gen. Cao Gangchuan, who was appointed defense minister as part of a leadership change in March.</p>

PRC Defense Minister Wants White House MeetingChinese Defense Minister Gen. Cao Gangchuan is coming to Washington and he wants to visit President Bush. However, Cao's meeting with the president may not occur. Whether Gen. Cao will meet President Bush is a question that remains unanswered. The White House press office has so far been unable to tell NewsMax whether the meeting will take place. China is pushing for a one-on-one meeting between the two men. Chinese President Hu Jintao reportedly pressed Bush to see the Chinese defense minister during their recent meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference. According...

Rumsfeld Will Host Chinese Defense Minister in Pentagon Meeting WASHINGTON (AP) - Gen. Cao Gangchuan, the Chinese minister of defense, will meet with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld at the Pentagon next week, marking the first high-level Chinese military visit since the collision of a Chinese fighter and a U.S. spy plane in April 2001. Also, Rumsfeld is expecting to meet in early November with Vietnamese Defense Minister Pham Van Tra, who would be the highest-level Vietnamese defense official to visit the Pentagon since before the Vietnam War, according to a defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Rumsfeld's...