Top MSDF officer to visit China for 1st time, see Chinese counterpart

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TOKYO, July 7 Kyodo -
Japan's top Maritime Self-Defense Force officer will visit China for the first
time next week to meet with his counterpart in the People's Liberation Army
Navy, the MSDF said Tuesday.
MSDF Chief of Staff Adm. Keiji Akahoshi will talk with Adm. Wu Shengli, the
navy commander, and other senior navy officials over the security environment
in East Asia, antipiracy operations off Somalia in which both countries are
involved and China's reported plans to build an aircraft carrier.
The talks will be held sometime during his four-day trip from Monday, according
to the MSDF.
''Military-level mutual exchanges will help mutual understanding and to enhance
the transparency in defense policy,'' Akahoshi said at a press conference,
adding that such exchanges will also lead to increasing stability in the
region.
As an area of particular interest to him, Akahoshi pointed to the Chinese
navy's force buildup, adding that he also wants to ''confirm with or rather
ask'' his counterpart about the reported aircraft carrier project.
The trip, which will take him to Beijing, Ningbo and Shanghai, and include a
visit to the Chinese naval force, comes at a time when defense exchanges
between the two countries are steadily growing.
Wu, who met with Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada when he visited Japan last
October, extended an official invitation to his Japanese counterpart. Wu is
also a member of China's Central Military Commission.
==Kyodo
2009-07-07 23:01:05