US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen will receive a high-level and warm welcome on Sunday when he begins his four-day trip to China, with his counterpart in China himself taking care of all the arrangements. “Chief of the General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Chen Bingde has examined and approved the schedule and arrangements for the visit in person, and called Admiral Mullen to discuss them,” said Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Yang Yujun at a news conference on Thursday. “China attaches great importance to the visit,” he added. Mullen will lead a 39-member delegation, which will spend two days in Beijing before visiting military centers in Zhejiang and Shandong provinces.

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Context

Senior Chinese and US officials will seek to enhance the vast and often contentious ties between the two nations during two days of strategic talks starting in Washington on Monday. In addition to economic concerns, other issues that will come under discussion include foreign policy, political and security issues, and human rights. Though the talks will cover a range of international affairs from South Asia to the Middle East, the issue that is likely to dominate the talks is that of North Korea, China’s long-time war ally that has long remained at the center of regional tensions. These talks have taken on added emphasis in the wake of Arab spring uprisings and the elimination of Osama bin Laden.

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