SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — The United States and China need to cooperate on security matters and maintain transparent military ties, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said here Saturday.
"It is essential for the United States and China to find opportunities to cooperate wherever possible," Gates told a high-level security forum in Singapore.
"This includes maintaining a defence relationship marked by consistent and open channels of communication and contact," he said.
"Likewise, it is essential that we are transparent -- both to each other and the rest of the world -- about our strategic goals, political intentions, and military development."
China's support is widely seen as crucial to resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis because it is one of the few states with an influence on the isolated Stalinist regime in Pyongyang.
The United States, China and other UN Security Council members have been studying possible sanctions against North Korea over its second nuclear test staged Monday, which was followed by short-range missile exercises.
The White House said Thursday that China was being "very helpful" in the efforts to censure North Korea over its nuclear and missile tests.
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