NEW YORK - The top US military official in the Pacific said he is hopeful that this year will be a good year for relations between China and the United States, particularly for military-to-military relations.

Admiral Robert Willard, commander of the US Pacific Command (USPACOM), hopes bilateral military dialogue will be elevated and that the two militaries will find opportunities to work together.

"I am often asked what the biggest challenge is for the Pacific Command. Frequently I answered that it is the challenge of getting the relationship between the US and China and the US military and Chinese military right," Willard told reporters at the New York Foreign Press Center on Monday.

He said one of the most important things that the US will do is to work with Chinese military officials to create overall security and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

"That's the goal for the United States and that's the goal for the United States military in Asia-Pacific," said Willard, who took his current position 18 months ago.

Willard made the comment after the announcement last week by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) that Chen Bingde, the chief of General Staff of the PLA, will visit the US in May and that meetings between the two militaries will be held in the coming days.

China ended bilateral military-to-military exchanges early last year following the US announcement of a $6-billion arms sale to Taiwan.

Military relations were later resumed with a round of talks between lower ranking officials at Pacific Command, then with talks that dealt with maritime safety and protocols, Willard said. Trying to avoid incidents on the sea and in the air when the two militaries are operating in close proximity has been a concern for both countries.

Willard called the renewed engagement a welcome first step. That was followed by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates' visit to China in January before President Hu Jintao paid a state visit to the US the same month.

"There have been overtures made on both sides regarding areas of common interest between the US military and China's military, where we can find opportunities for both dialogue and exchanges. And there have been proffers of more strategic discussions by Defense Secretary Gates to his Chinese counterpart in the area of strategic nuclear and cyberspace that the Chinese are considering," Willard said.

He stressed that security and stability of the Asia-Pacific region is important to not only nations in the region, but to the US and the world because trade in the maritime domain each year stands at $5.6 trillion in transactions, including $1.2 trillion with the US.

Willard did not answer the question asked by China Daily about whether the US' plans to escalate its military presence in Australia is a response to China's growing presence in the region.

James Baker, the former secretary of state, believes that the vast common interests between China and the US would prevent the two countries from coming into conflict.

"The two largest economies in the world happen to be major trading partners to each other. Economic cooperation tends to dampen any chance of conflict," Baker told a recent meeting at the Asia Society in Houston.

Baker shot down recent criticism that clashes between China and the US are inevitable.

"These observers are wrong. They are not just wrong, they are dangerously wrong," said Baker, who has visited China frequently in the last 34 years.

But he cautioned that China and the US have to manage their differences because those differences are not going to go away. Both must restrain their rhetoric and keep communications open.

"We must make compromises to allow us to meet halfway. Sometime we simply must agree to disagree," he said.

"The future is rich enough to give both our countries the full range of our opportunities and our dreams. But if we slip into confrontation or conflict, both sides will suffer. Make no mistake about it, the world will suffer with us," Baker said.

China Daily