American's top military officer will visit China this week in a sign of improving military ties between the two major powers after a period of strain.   

Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet Chinese military leaders to discuss increasing contacts, US defense officials said.

Myers met with Japanese military officials in Tokyo on Monday on the first leg of a week-long trip that will take him to Mongolia, China and Australia before returning home on Sunday.

US defense officials said the Beijing visit was a sign of warming ties after a 2001 collision between a Chinese fighter jet and a US Navy reconnaissance plane over South China Sea plunged military relations into a deep freeze. 

China's defense minister visited Washington in October and US defense officials said at the time that the two countries planned to increase military exchanges at all levels in 2004.

In Beijing, US officials said, Myers will meet with his Chinese counterpart and was expected to discuss the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), Taiwan and other issues. 

Before flying to Beijing, Myers was to make the first visit to Mongolia. US Defense officials said he would thank the Mongolians for sending a company of peacekeeping troops to Iraq. 

When he visited Washington in October, Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan and US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld discussed a range of issues, including bilateral military relations and DPRK's nuclear ambitions.

Cao, who also met with Myers, became the first Chinese defense chief to visit the Pentagon since 1996.

(China Daily January 13, 2004)