U.S.-China Military Contacts: Issues for Congress
Abstract
This CRS Report discusses policy issues regarding military-to-military (mil-to-mil) contacts with the People's Republic of China (PRC) and provides a record of major contacts since 1993. The United States suspended military contacts with China and imposed sanctions on arms sales in response to the Tiananmen Crackdown in 1989. In 1993, the Clinton Administration began to re-engage the PRC leadership up to the highest level and including China's military, the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Renewed military exchanges with the PLA have not regained the closeness reached in the 1980s, when U.S.-PRC strategic cooperation against the Soviet Union included U.S. arms sales to China. Improvements and deteriorations in overall bilateral relations have affected military contacts, which were close in 1997-1998 and 2000, but marred by the 1995-1996 Taiwan Strait crisis, mistaken NATO bombing of a PRC embassy in 1999, and the EP-3 aircraft collision crisis in 2001. Since 2001, the Bush Administration has continued the policy of engagement with China, while the Pentagon has skeptically reviewed and cautiously resumed a program of mil-to-mil exchanges. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, in 2002, resumed the Defense Consultative Talks with the PLA and, in 2003, hosted General Cao Gangchuan, a Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission and Defense Minister. General Richard Myers (USAF), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited China in Jan 2004, as the highest ranking U.S. military officer to do so since Nov 2000. In Sep 2005, Admiral William Fallon sought to advance mil-to-mil contacts, including combined exercises. In June 2006, Fallon invited PLA observers to the U.S. "Valiant Shield" exercise that brought three aircraft carriers to waters off Guam. Issues for the 110th Congress include whether the Administration has complied with legislation overseeing dealings with the PLA and has determined a program of contacts with the PLA that advances U.S. security interests.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 12, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA474964
Entities
People
- Shirley Kan
Organizations
- Library of Congress