OPENING STATEMENT:  ADM Harris: General Fang, let me begin by thanking you for sitting with me and the American delegation today. It is a pleasure for me to be back in China. I was here last year, when we approved that CUES [Code for Unexpected Encounters at Sea] document as part the western Pacific Naval Symposium, a confidence building measure to enhance safety at sea.

So this is one of the many examples where we have made good progress on broadening cooperation between our two nations.  Even today, we have Chinese navy ships visiting our facilities in Mayport, Florida, and San Diego, California.  In fact, soon the USS Stethem, a guided missile destroyer, and Admiral Scott Swift, the Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, will visit Shanghai.  In fact, we have thirty-three interactions with U.S. military and the Chinese military over the next two weeks, ranging from four-star visits to cadet exchanges.

So while there are areas of disagreement, our desire is to deepen cooperation while managing our differences.  Sustained military dialogue is vital to our relationship, so thank you for welcoming us.