BEIJING - Chinese foreign and military affairs experts said that trust between China and the United States still remains at the low level of avoiding military conflicts.

"The lack of mutual trust is commonly recognized by both sides. But we still have a certain degree of it. For instance, we will not use the military against each other. But this is trust at a very low level," said Da Wei, an expert on Sino-US relations from China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR).

Reaching a high level of mutual trust would be difficult due to the two nations' different political systems and stages of development, Da said.

In addition, China is now catching up with the US, and this has created a sense of insecurity in Washington, he added.

Fu Mengzi, assistant president of CICIR, said a lack of trust is deeply rooted in Washington's foreign policy logic.

"The US used to remain highly alert against Germany and the former Soviet Union in similar ways, and it has always held the belief that the strong one survives," Fu said.

But with such closely linked interests, China and the US are now in a different situation, he said. "Both sides have to learn to understand each other and cultivate healthy competition."

As for US arms sales to Taiwan, Major General Jin Yinan from the National Defense University of the PLA, said the recent warning by Chen Bingde, chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army, that future US arms sales to Taiwan would definitely undermine Sino-US military relations deserves special attention.

"While the media praised the improvement of bilateral military relations during Chen's visit to the US this month, we should always remain alert to the impact that US arms sales to Taiwan can have on relations," he said.

China Daily

(China Daily 05/27/2011 page11)