China allows US military chief access to advance weaponry

Chinese officials allowed Admiral Mike Mullen, America’s top military official, to tour one of the country’s most advanced fighter jet and submarine bases, the Wall Street Journal reported. Mullen’s four-day tour to China began with uncomfortable exchanges with his Chinese counterpart, Chen Bingde, over US involvement in territorial disputes in the South China Sea. However, Chinese officials responded to frequent American requests for transparency by allowing Mullen, along with some US journalists, to tour air force and army bases, though not a naval base, on Wednesday. US officials were also granted their request to see China’s SU-27, a modified Russian fighter jet thought to be comparable to America’s F-16. “See how open we are?” said General Ma Xiaotian, China’s deputy chief of general staff. “In the future you can’t keep saying we’re not transparent.”