DefenseNews.com - NATO Wants To End Tensions with China, Establish Military Ties - 05/24/07 16:03

Posted 05/24/07 16:03Print this story NATO Wants To End Tensions with China, Establish Military Ties

By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BEIJING


NATO wants to finally end tensions arising from its deadly 1999 bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade and establish ties with China, a general with the alliance said in comments published here May 24.
NATO Military Commission chairman General Ray Henault said the organization was ready and willing to set up direct “military-to-military” relations with China, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
”NATO is open to develop relations with China whenever there is (the) opportunity,” Henault said, according to Xinhua, following an exclusive interview with him on the Roosevelt missile destroyer in Italy.
Xinhua said Henault had referred in the interview to NATO’s bombing of China’s embassy in Belgrade eight years ago, which killed three Chinese journalists.
The incident, which NATO insisted was an accident, sent relations between the two sides plummeting to their lowest point. China initially recalled its ambassador from Washington over the strike.
The U.S.-led forces, which were trying to end Serbian violence against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, said the strike occurred because of an outdated map provided by the CIA.
The United States and NATO apologized for the incident. China has never publicly accepted their explanation that the bombing was a mistake.
”NATO wants to shake off the embassy-bombing shadow and is open to develop relations with China,” Xinhua cited Henault as saying.
China reacted warmly to the comments, with foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu saying dialogue between the two sides had picked up pace recently and a deepening of ties was a possibility.
”China has resumed dialogue in recent years with NATO at various levels..,” Jiang told reporters.
”Under the current new international circumstances, China stays ready to maintain and develop contacts with NATO on the basis of equality and mutual respect, and to reinforce our exchanges.
”This is conducive to the reinforcement of our mutual knowledge and this is to the benefit (of) the world and regional peace and stability.”