Pakistani army chief: Pakistan supports China's Anti-Secession Law

Pakistan understands and supports China's Anti-Secession Law and sticks to the one-China policy, Pakistani Deputy Chief of Army Staff Ahsan Saleem Hayat said in Islamabad Monday.

At his meeting with Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan, he said the Pakistani military treasures the friendly cooperation with Chinese military, and is seeking to strengthen exchanges withthe Chinese side in the future.

Cao, also vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission and a state councilor, said China-Pakistan relations have overcome thetwists and turns in history and maintained a good development momentum. "China is willing to further the cooperation between thetwo armed forces to cement the relationship."

Hayat, who is here to attend the Third Sino-Pakistani Defense and Security Talks, also met with Liang Guanglie, chief of generalstaff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

Liang said the cooperation with the two armed forces has been fruitful in recent years, and the talks will inject new vigor intoit.

The armed forces of the two countries held the first joint anti-terror military exercise in August 2004, in order to crack down onthe "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism.

The two navies also had a joint rescue exercise in October 2003,the first joint exercise the Chinese navy had ever held with foreign navies in the non-conventional security field.

Source: Xinhua