Strengthening of EU-China military ties

During a visit of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton to Beijing on Monday, the EU and China agreed to strengthen their defence cooperation. Ashton met with the Chinese Defence Minister Gen. Liang Guanglie.

Gen. Liang expressed his optimism concerning joint efforts for EU-China military communication and cooperation. The talks focussed on the deepening of the existing cooperation in the fight against piracy off the Horn of Africa, a major area of EU-China military cooperation. Ashton appreciated previous achievements in the joint fight against piracy, and called for stronger common efforts in security and defence policy. According to the High Representative, the two sides also agreed on establishing a more regular dialogue between senior defence officials. Regional issues of concern to both such as the situation in the South China Sea were another subject of the talks.

The challenges for European maritime security will be discussed at the SDA’s SecDef conference on November 7th.