Pentagon: China agrees to resume normal military ties after freeze over Taiwan arms sales

Pentagon says US-China military ties improving

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon says a recent chill in U.S.-China military ties is beginning to thaw.

A Pentagon spokesman says China agreed to resume maritime talks next month, and will send officials to Washington later this year.

China froze military contacts with the United States earlier this year in protest over a proposed arms sale to Taiwan worth more than $6 billion.

Pentagon spokesman Col. David Lapan (luh-PAN) says China agreed to resume normal talks during a visit to Beijing by the top U.S. defense official responsible for Asia. Those discussions closed without a specific invitation for Defense Secretary Robert Gates to visit China.

Both nations have said they want such a visit to take place, but China has held off on a formal invitation.