Exchanges will build trust

China and the US should enhance military interaction in Asia-Pacific region to promote peace and development

At the just-concluded Shangri-La Dialogue, the 10th International Institute for Strategic Studies Asia Security Summit held in Singapore, the security policies the United States will adopt in Asia-Pacific, the kind of security strategy China will embrace and how the two countries will develop their military ties were at the top of the agenda.

At the summit, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates sent an unequivocal message that the US will not weaken security commitments to Asia-Pacific countries, despite the fact that Washington is plagued by a gaping fiscal deficit, has yet to completely extricate itself from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and faces lingering political turbulence in some Arab and North African countries that could pose challenges to its role in the Middle East.