Chinese, US militaries download a Web-friendly era

DENVER: Recent high-level military meetings between China and the US have underscored the evolution of China's military and its changing relationship with the international community, especially the United States.

And to embrace this new evolution, China's defense ministry's new website, launched last month (http://eng.mod.gov.cn), features an unprecedented amount of public information and content about the country's armed forces. The new site, which is in both Mandarin and English, went online just days after the Pentagon unveiled its revamped Web presence, Defense.gov.

The US and Chinese military sites bear a lot of similarities. Both contain news releases, explanations of defense policies, and profiles of their respective leaderships. They also feature institutional histories and time lines, as well as audio and video of personnel in action.