At the China-US defense consultation held last week in Beijing, the two countries agreed to hold a special meeting in July to discuss unexpected confrontations between their navies, according to the latest issue of Defense News, an American-based weekly magazine.

Under-Secretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy, and Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the PLA Ma Xiaotian concluded the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement (MMCA) at the meeting held on June 23 through June 24, agreeing to hold a special meeting in July, according to a report by Defense News quoted by Taiwan-based Central News Agency.

The report pointed out that unexpected maritime confrontations frequently occurred between the Chinese and US navies recently.

In early March, there was friction between Chinese naval vessels and the US navy surveillance ship "USNS Impeccable."

In early May, two Chinese fishing vessels confronted the US navy ocean surveillance ship "USNS Victorious" in the Yellow Sea.

On June 11, the sonar array towed by the "USS John McCain," a US navy Aegis-class destroyer homeported at Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan, collided with a Chinese submarine while the destroyer was sailing off the coast of the Philippines.

It has been reported that these three accidents occurred following China's suspension of China-US military exchanges, to protest against the US's decision to sell six military weapons worth 6.5 billion USD to Taiwan in October last year.

Dennis Wilder, former White House National Security Council senior director for Asian affairs, told Defense News that the special meeting in July is crucial, because it will arrange the agenda for next year's military exchanges between China and the US.

By People's Daily Online