Friendly lunch a relief for US defense chief
Print Edition
OVER kung pao chicken and dumplings, Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel recalled his days as an infantryman in Vietnam as he talked to young Chinese soldiers at a People’s Liberation Army training academy.
“Many, many years ago when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I was a sergeant in the army,” joked the visiting US defense secretary before sitting down to lunch at a canteen with soldiers training to become non-commissioned officers in the PLA.
The training school laid out the red carpet for Hagel, who did his NCO training in 1968 after combat in the jungles of the Mekong Delta — and still carries shrapnel in his chest as a result.
The atmosphere was friendly and conversation light, in stark contrast to the rough reception Hagel received on Tuesday from Chinese defense officials and a roomful of PLA colonels who peppered him with tough questions.
But at the training academy in a northwestern suburb of Beijing, Hagel faced no grilling over US foreign policy, and instead watched soldiers in combat fatigues drive bulldozers and backhoes in a precision display.
At the canteen, Hagel picked up a tray of kung pao chicken, broccoli and dumplings before lunching with two Chinese cadets and asking them about their careers in the army.
Non-commissioned officers were a crucial foundation for any military, he told them.
“This is a very important institution. You’re the leaders of the next generation so we need the best people.”
After the training school, Hagel wrapped up his three-day tour of China by meeting President Xi Jinping, and officials said the discussions went more smoothly than Tuesday’s “frank” exchanges.
The two discussed the importance of expanding China-US military relations as well as North Korea’s nuclear program, a Pentagon spokesman said.
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