Only increased political mutual trust can ease strained US-China military ties: Analysts

Beijing, Oct 18(ANI): Increased political mutual trust between the United States and China is the only way to ease strained military relations between the two countries, analysts have said.

The suggestion comes after the two countries held annual consultations in Honolulu on last Friday and Saturday under their Military Maritime Consultative Agreement (MMCA) mechanism.

Analysts see this meeting as a pragmatic move, but highlighted that unless Washington and Beijing increase political mutual trust, military ties will remain as uneven as they have been over the course of the past three decades.

"Only when their political mutual trust reaches a high level, can the two countries' military relationship stride forward," China Daily quoted Colonel Zhao Xiaozhuo, an expert on US military affairs at Beijing-based Academy of Military Science, as saying.

"Otherwise it will only continue as it has been over the last 30 some years - this stop-and-go cycle," he added.

Yuan Peng, director of the Institute of American Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said that the meeting was timely and would help the two countries to relieve tension.

"The recent tensions between China and US over the South China Sea and Yellow Sea issues show the two militaries lack sufficient trust, and occasionally make inaccurately strategic decisions," Peng said.

"This meeting could control their conflicts within limits, and turn their military relationship back into a rational and healthy channel," he added.

China had suspended military relations with the US in January after objecting to Washington's approval of a 6.4 billion dollar arms sale to Taiwan by Lockheed Martin.

Relations were further aggravated when US naval forces conducted a series of joint military drills with the Republic of Korea near Chinese territorial waters. (ANI)