Although China voted with the United States and other countries to impose another round of sanctions against Iran in the United Nations Security Council, there is still little political trust between the two countries, especially between their militaries.

This was evident when U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was in Singapore for the Shangri-La Dialogue, during which he appealed to China to restore military cooperation so as to reduce misunderstanding. The defense secretary said that American arms sales were a reality that China could not change. However, Gen. Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, responded that "we do not regard U.S. arms sales to Taiwan as something normal" and "it is not the Chinese side that has set obstacles to military-to- military ties."

The American military's unhappiness with its Chinese counterpart was also made plain by Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, who said he was "dismayed" by China's lack of support for efforts to pressure North Korea over the sinking in March of the Cheonan, a South Korean warship. South Korea has taken the issue to the Security Council, where it has the support of the U.S. But China is not joining in the effort, calling instead for restraint.