China's most senior military official exchanged information on North Korea on Tuesday in talks with Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that marked a further warming in ties, the Pentagon said.
General Guo Boxiong, vice-chairman of China's Central Military Commission who is outranked only by President Hu Jintao on that powerful body, held "informal and friendly" talks with Rumsfeld, a senior US defence official said.
Guo's July 16-22 American tour, his first trip to the United States, was scheduled before the July 4 missile launches by North Korea, which sparked a flurry of diplomacy and drew a UN Security Council resolution condemning Pyongyang.
The Chinese military delegation offered no new information on the North Korean missile dispute and "they were saying a lot of their information came from us regarding what's going on" with missile launches, said the Pentagon official.
"China doesn't defend the things that North Korea is doing," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. While China has distanced itself from North Korea in recent years, it was its Korean War ally and remains its patron.
Guo's visit, which began with a visit to the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing in San Diego, is the latest exchange aimed at boosting bilateral military ties cut off when a Chinese fighter jet collided with a US surveillance plane near southern China in 2001.
"They're very stable, very steady and they're expanding and they have high political impetus from both sides," said the Pentagon official, describing bilateral military ties. China agreed in June to join the United States in a search and rescue exercise and the two countries planned to conduct several phases of drills under their bilateral Military Maritime Consultative Agreement, the official said.
The next high-level Chinese visit, expected later this year, will be by the of commander China's Second Artillery Corps to the US Strategic Command, the official said. Rumsfeld visited the Second Artillery headquarters in October.
In a report earlier this year that raised questions about Chinese military spending and strategic intentions, the Pentagon said there were signs China was altering its long-standing no-first-use policy toward nuclear weapons.
But the Pentagon official said China had denied there were any changes during a strategic dialogue in Beijing last month.
"They continue to assure us ... that A) they adhere to the no-first-use doctrine and B) there's no debate going on about it, either," said the official.
The United States, China, Japan and other Asian powers are trying to craft a common strategy to lure North Korea back to six-party talks aimed at dismantling its nuclear programs, a task made more urgent since the North's missile tests.