U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates held talks with his Chinese counterpart Liang Guanglie in Beijing on Monday on the first stop of his weeklong trip to Asia. It is Gates' second visit to the country since he assumed the post in December 2006. The trip is intended to deepen the military relationship between the United States and China. "My own view is that a positive, constructive, comprehensive relationship between the United States and China is not just in the mutual interest of the two countries, but in the interests of the region, and I would say the globe," he was quoted as saying by CNN. For his part, Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie said "The Sino-U.S. military relationship has new opportunities for development," Liang was quoted as saying by the state run Xinhua news agency.
