US officials optimistic on US-China military ties

After a rocky few months, Pentagon officials say they sense that relations with the Chinese military may be stabilizing.

US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis was meeting Thursday with his Chinese counterpart, Wei Fenghe, on the sidelines of an Asian defence ministers' conference.

Just weeks ago, Mattis had planned to travel to Beijing for talks with Wei, but that fell through when the Chinese made it known that Wei would be unavailable -- one of several signs that tension in the overall US-China relationship was spilling over into the military arena.

Wei and Mattis were in Singapore this week for an Association of Southeast Asian Nations conference where China's increasing assertiveness on the world stage was an expected topic.

The Pentagon's top policy official for Asia and the Pacific, Randall G. Schriver, told reporters on Wednesday that the Chinese had requested the Singapore meeting with Mattis. He said U.S. officials took this as a sign that the Chinese are interested in stabilizing the military relationship.

Speaking to reporters traveling with him earlier this week, Mattis acknowledged that the relationship has been difficult in recent times.

"We're two large powers, or two Pacific powers, two economic powers. There's going to be times we step on each other's toes, so we're going to have to find a way to productively manage our relationship," he said.

"And the military relationship is to be a stabilizing force in the relations between the two countries."