China says naval ties with United States ‘best in history’

Relations between the Chinese and U.S. navies are their “best in history” and exchanges between the two will become more systematic in the future, China’s military on Friday cited the country’s naval chief as telling visiting U.S. officers. The comments by navy chief Wu Shengli come as Washington considers conducting freedom-of-navigation operations within 12 nautical miles of artificial islands China has built in the disputed South China Sea, without saying when it would do so. Such a move would likely infuriate Beijing.

At present, relations between the Chinese and U.S. navies are at their best time in history.

Navy Chief Wu Shengli

Both China and the United States had worked hard to increase military interaction, holding joint drills and agreeing rules on encounters at sea and in the air, Wu said, according to the official People’s Liberation Army Daily. China-U.S. relations have become increasingly strained over Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have claims in the area.