China's military diplomacy continued its active momentum throughout 1999. Approximately 33 senior-level delegations from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) visited nearly 50 foreign countries,while 89 groups of foreign army leaders were received in China.

The Chinese army has also been active in international events, attending some 15 multi-lateral and regional forums on security cooperation, and accomplishing joint research on nearly 30 topics including defense policy, army building, and regional security.

A review of China's military diplomacy for 1999 reveals that exchanges with neighboring countries constituted a significant element of overall military diplomacy.

The past year witnessed many conflicts, new developments in hegemonism and power politics, and increasingly complicated conflicts in international relations.

Compared with 1998 when the promotion of stable relations with the world's major powers was a distinctive feature of China's military diplomacy, 1999 saw an emphasis on the further consolidation and development of army relations with neighboring countries and an improvement of regional security.

Active military diplomacy contributed a lot to China's overall diplomacy in 1999, analysts say.

The strong momentum of China's friendly exchanges with neighboring countries began when both Chinese Defense Minister Chi Haotian and Chief of the PLA General Staff Fu Quanyou chose bordering countries as destination for their first annual visits. This trend continued throughout this year.

Among those visiting China were defense ministers from Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Australia, and the Republic of Korea (ROK), and army chiefs from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Mongolia, and Nepal, not to mention numerous other lower-level groups. The number of military delegations from neighboring countries not only exceed that of the previous years, but surpass those from other regions as well.

Analysts here point out that China's military diplomacy has made positive contributions to eliminating the so-called "China threat"theory, while establishing good-neighborly partnerships of mutual trust with neighboring countries.

China's relations with Russia and northeastern Asian countries aroused particular interest.

During the past year, China and its largest neighbor Russia played important roles in the world's multi-polarization process, and maintained frequent senior-level exchanges and military cooperation.

Vice-Chairman of China's Central Military Commission Zhang Wannian visited Russia in June, yet another important visit by a Chinese army leader to Russia. Following that, several PLA delegations visited Russia. It could well be said that the Sino-Russian strategic partnership oriented toward the 21st century has realized substantial development through military exchanges.

China's military ties with northeastern Asian countries also scored a breakthrough as China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) held a high-level military meeting, and the ROK defense minister visited China for the first time since the establishment of bilateral ties seven years ago.

At the same time, China maintained vice-ministerial level security consultations with Japan, another country vital to the peace and stability of the region.

While China developed close military exchanges with neighboring regions, it also further promoted ties with African and Latin American countries, and opened up new fields for military exchange.

It should be mentioned that China's military diplomacy has successfully gained the initiative by adjusting its policy in accordance with the changing international situation.

In retrospect, military diplomacy in 1999 found China fully implementing the thinking of late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping and a series of important remarks on national defense by Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

By adhering to the peaceful foreign policy of independence, China's military exchanges have played a supportive diplomatic role while adamantly safeguarding the interests of the nation.