United States Secretary of Defense James Mattis will visit China from June 26 to June 28. [Photo/IC] United States Secretary of Defense James Mattis' first visit to China will help ease tension, promote mutual trust and facilitate healthy interactions and relations between the two militaries, experts said. Chinese military officials will also take this chance to directly communicate China's stance of resolutely safeguarding its national sovereignty, territorial integrity and other core interests to the top US defense official, they added. Mattis will visit China from Tuesday to Thursday. He will meet with State and military leaders to discuss issues of common concern, Ren Guoqiang, a spokesman for Ministry of National Defense, said on Monday. It will be the first visit to China of a US defense secretary since Chuck Hagel in April 2014. Mattis will also visit the Republic of Korea and Japan after his trip to China. Developing healthy and stable Sino-US military-to-military relations is in accordance with the mutual interest of both countries and the common aspirations of the international community, Ren said. China values developing military relations with the US, and hopes the US works with China to turn the military relationship into a stabilizing factor for the countries' overall relations, he added. While Mattis' trip to China was part of the bilateral consensus reached last year, his visit comes amid recently heightened security tensions between the two over the South China Sea and Taiwan. On May 23, the Pentagon disinvited China from the 2018 Rim of the Pacific naval exercise as part of its criticism of China's military buildup in the South China Sea. The US is also helping Taiwan bolster its defense capabilities. One week ago, the US Senate passed the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, calling for joint military drills with the island, despite Beijing's strong opposition to any country having military interactions with Taiwan. Mattis, however, has shown an interest in less contentious dialogue with China before traveling to Asia, insisting to reporters that he will not poison the well before going into the talks and will focus on larger, more strategic security issues, The Associated Press reported on Sunday. Colonel Liu Lin, an associate researcher of foreign militaries at the People's Liberation Army Academy of Military Science, said while some degree of competition is inevitable between China and the US, there is more room for cooperation than confrontation. Having high ranking military officials directly interact with each other will help increase strategic communication and build mutual trust, facilitating a healthy military relationship between the two countries, she said. Senior Colonel Zhou Bo, director of the Center for Security Cooperation under the Central Military Commission Office of International Military Cooperation, said the South China Sea, Taiwan and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula will be among the key topics discussed during Mattis' visit to China, as well as bilateral military cooperation. Although not all differences could be managed overnight, the gesture of his coming to China is already a positive sign for Sino-US military relations, he said. woven wristbands24 hour wristbands couponcustom made rubber braceletsmake rubber braceletsblack rubber braceletswristband keychainrubber wristbands custom cheap
Li Junpei, a doctoral graduate of the highly regarded University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, Anhui province, has had significant achievements in the past year, after he met with President Xi Jinping at his alma mater in April 2016. "Xi has been a great teacher and mentor. His handshake was warm and powerful, and his smiles were radiant. He emphasized that Chinese college students should have cultural confidence, and become people who are earnest and dependable," Li said. Li majored in chemistry and, in 2015, founded a company that specializes in healthy and environmentally friendly new materials products, aided by the nurturing atmosphere for entrepreneurship at the university. In the past year, he obtained financing of over 30 million yuan ($4.5 million) from investors. "I have applied for more than 40 patents. Our company has set up a factory in Huzhou, Zhejiang province, and launched some antibacterial and deodorizing products. The outlets of renowned hot pot chain Haidilao and a number of supermarkets and hospitals in Anhui province are using our products," he said. On April 26, 2016, Xi made a trip to Li's university, where he visited the Institute of Advanced Technology and some key labs, and he also talked with students at the school library. Xi said as a university dedicated to advanced science and high-tech research, USTC has made great efforts in recent years in pushing forward scientific innovation. He told students they should have ideals, pursuits, responsibilities, achievements and good qualities and become well cultured. "We should be confident in our universities in China. Besides confidence in the path, the theories and the system we take, we should have a fundamental confidence, that is cultural confidence," Xi said. "Our education should not look down on itself. Most of the students fostered in China are excellent. China is transforming itself into a country with a large amount of talent. We are confident in building top universities and fostering top talent worldwide." Xu Wu, secretary of the Party committee at USTC, said the university would speed up the building of a top global university, carry forward independent innovation, and foster more innovative talent. "The visit of President Xi has been a significant inspiration and motivation to us. His kind words and great image have impressed a large number of students. It made us convinced that teaching by precept and example is the core of education," he said. Xi visited on a rainy, cool day, and after visiting the library, he didn't shy away from walking in the rain, shaking hands and bidding farewell to nearly 500 students. "The rain wet his clothes and shoes, but he didn't care about it and said goodbye to us. We all felt quite warm and excited, and we sang the school song together spontaneously," said Wu Maoqian, a third-year doctoral student. Wu, a model student, spoke with Xi twice in the past five years, once last year and in 2011, when he was an undergraduate. He said Xi has encouraged his career pursuit.
