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From January to March 2001, the Sino-US military relations had been progressing steadily. The Chinese Military Environmental Protection Delegation of the PLA visited the US from February 12 to 22. A Military Legal Delegation followed from March 5 to 15. The President of the US Air Force University visited China from February 10 to 16. The US National Defense University Capstone Delegation visited China from February 14 to 17. The US Air War College Delegation visited China on March 6-13. Denise Blair, admiral, commander-in-chief of the US Pacific Command visited China on March 13-18.
On April 1, there took place the Air-Collision Incident between China and the US. The US Ministry of Defense unilaterally announced to break off the military contacts between the two sides. Following that, the military exchanges between the two sides stopped.
From September 14 to 15, the special meeting of China-US Military Maritime Consultation Agreement was held in Guam, USA, which led to the thawing of the suspended Sino-US military relations. From December 5 to 7, the annual working group meeting of Sino-US consultative mechanism to strengthen military maritime safety was held in Beijing.
In 2002, the Sino-US military relations improved gradually. The US National Defense University Capstone Delegations and Student Delegations visited China in February, May, July, and October respectively. In April, the Delegation of US Air Force Military Academy visited China. The annual meeting of Sino-US consultative mechanism to strengthen military maritime safety was held in April and the 1st meeting of working group for Sino-US military air and maritime safety was held in August. In June, Rodman, US Assistant Secretary of Defense led a military delegation to China and exchanged views with the Chinese side on how to resume the military exchanges between the US and China.
(Chinese Foreign Ministry, November, 2003)
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