'US wants constructive relationship with China'

Washington: Calling peaceful rise of China good for the region and the world, the Pentagon on Thursday said that the United States wants a productive and constructive relationship with China.

"It is also a very big country, an economic power. The peaceful rise of China is not only good for the region, it's good for the world. This is a country that we want to have a good, constructive, productive relationship with," the Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt John Kirby said in response to a question about the kind of relationship the US wants to have with China.

US has been trying very hard to develop a good, constructive military relationship with China and "it is moving in the right direction," Kirby asserted.

"Navies exist to protect national security interests of their countries. That's what they do. All navies have to be ready for operation. Our navy is ready for operations.

"We certainly wouldn't begrudge the Chinese government from wanting to ensure that their navy was fit for sea," Kirby said when asked about a recent statement by the Chinese President in which he asked his navy to become stronger.

The Chinese vice president will be visiting the United States next year.

Early this week, the US and China agreed to continue to strengthen their communication channels in various areas of military-to-military relationship.

Decision in this regard was taken at the just concluded 12th US-China Defence Consultative Talks, co-chaired by the Under Secretary of Defence for Policy, Michele Flournoy and Deputy Chief of the People's Liberation Army General Staff Department Gen Ma Xiaotian.

The talks were held in Beijing on December 7.

The Defence Consultative Talks helped to establish a framework for US-China military-to-military relations, translate their common interests into concrete actions, and expand areas where US can cooperate and discuss mutual expectations in several areas, a Pentagon statement said.

"These talks represent the highest level bilateral dialogue between our two defense establishments and help to establish a framework for US-China military-to-military relations," it added.