Chinese, US navies to conduct joint rescue drill

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Source: CCTV.com | 11-14-2006 13:59

The commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Gary Roughead, began a visit to China on Monday. His trip is aimed at strengthening ties between the two navies. A joint search-and-rescue exercise will be held to mark the conclusion of a two-part operation.

Once again, China has welcomed a high-ranking US naval officer to its ports. While previous visits were aimed at repairing Sino-US military relations, Admiral Roughead is looking into the future. He hopes the ties will enhance cooperation between the two military powers, and that those ties will last for decades.

Admiral Roughead said: "I believe there is a great value in those types of relationships so that 10 or 15 years from now if there is a situation that requires our forces to work together, or perhaps a period of misunderstanding, that these old friends can pick up the phone and maybe there's a connection there that can benefit everyone."

Considering certain events in the past five years, the word "friends" is not to be taken lightly. Exchanges between the two military forces ground to a halt in 2001, when a US spy plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea.

But relations have improved recently as US leaders seek to increase exchanges and better understand China's military development.

During his stay, Admiral Roughead is scheduled to meet with Chinese military officials. And a joint search-and-rescue exercise is expected to be held on Sunday.

He said: "The basic idea behind our search and rescue exercises is that there may be someone in distress out on the sea. It is the job of the forces that come together to find that person because the sea is a very big place, and then bring our forces together to conduct a rescue operation perhaps to render medical aid, put out a fire, whatever it might be."

The first leg of this two-part operation was successfully conducted off the Californian coast in September. So it seems renewed trust and cooperation between the two military giants could be set to replace the stand-offishness of recent years.

Editor:Wang Ping