China's Defence Minister Chang Wanquan met Iran's Navy Commander in Beijing Thursday to discuss strengthening of the military relations between the two countries. The meeting between the top officials of the two countries comes just a month after the two navies conducted joint drills in the Persian Gulf.
Wanquan told visiting Iranian Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari that there was good cooperation between the two armed forces in the recent years, which could be seen from the mutual visits and personnel training exchanges.
"China is willing to work with Iran to further pragmatic cooperation and strengthen military-to-military ties," Wanguan said, reports Reuters citing Xinhua news agency.
"Exchanges between the two navies have been fruitful and their warships have paid successful visits to each other," he said.
The Iranian Navy Commander said that his country attached great importance to its relations with China and was ready to enhance the cooperation between the two armed forces, particularly between their respective navies.
In late September, two Chinese warships, including a guided-missile destroyer, docked at the Iranian port Bandar Abbas to participate in joint naval exercises in the Gulf. It was the first time that the two countries have conducted drills together.
China has also been developing closer relations with the militaries of U.S. rivals such as Russia for countering the U.S. naval supremacy in the Asia- Pacific region.
Meanwhile, China said Thursday that it opposed the move to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court on suspicion of crimes against humanity.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that China believes arguments over human rights issues should be tackled through discussions and cooperation.
"We think bringing human rights issues to the International Criminal Court won't help improve the human rights condition in a country," Hua said, reports the Associated Press.
