China, US defense chiefs plan Hanoi meet

Liang, Gates to talk military ties at ASEAN security conference

BEIJING - Defense Minister General Liang Guanglie will meet with United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates next week for the first time since military ties were severed at the beginning of this year, a senior official announced on Wednesday.

The pair will talk in Vietnam during a regional security meeting of defense chiefs from members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and eight other invited countries on Oct 12, Guan Youfei, deputy director of the Ministry of National Defense's Foreign Affairs Office, told a press briefing.