US-China developing better military ties: US admiral

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States and China are developing better ties despite a recent row over the port visits of US ships, the head of the US armed forces in the Asia-Pacific said Monday.

"The sense I got is that they didn't want to be confrontational," Admiral Timothy Keating told reporters, after a visit to China this month.

"I am not as concerned today as I was before ... We think we are developing a better understanding of them."

Relations between the two powers soured in late November when Chinese authorities refused to allow the USS Kitty Hawk to dock at Hong Kong to allow its crew to get some much-needed rest time.

Two US minesweepers were also refused permission to shelter in Hong Kong from a brewing tropical storm.

"They didn't...