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Washington. The nominee to command US forces in the Pacific said on Thursday he wants improved military ties with China. But he noted that China must be committed to open exchanges.

Adm. Samuel Locklear said that China’s military buildup is a source of strategic uncertainty. He described the current military relationship as “cooperative but competitive.”

“It would be my plan to in every way possible improve our military-to-military relationship, with the recognition that there are things we won’t agree on, that greater transparency is for the good of all of us to avoid miscalculation,” Locklear told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Locklear was testifying at a confirmation hearing for his appointment as chief of about 325,000 personnel, scores of ships and hundreds of aircraft. The Pacific Command will be key to efforts to reassert the US military presence in the Asia-Pacific.

Military ties with China have often been hostage to disputes over US arms sales to the self-governing island of Taiwan, that Beijing considers to be part of the mainland.

Last month, current Pacific commander Adm. Robert Willard, said that the ties have been maintained at the strategic, or senior level, but China is reluctant to have tactical and operational ties with the US for more familiarity between their forces.

Willard, due to step down later this year, has led the Hawaii-based command since October 2009. The command, responsible for about one-fifth of US military strength, covers an area stretching from the waters off the west coast of the US to the western border of India.

Locklear is currently chief of US naval forces in Europe and Africa, and commander of Allied Joint Forces Command in Naples, Italy. He commanded US and NATO-led operations in Libya that eventually toppled Moammar Gadhafi.

Locklear voiced concern about the stability of the Korean Peninsula, where the US retains around 28,000 troops, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. But he said North Korea appears to be managing its leadership transition after the Dec. 17 death of Kim Jong Il.

“Day by day, so far so good,” Locklear said. “It’s yet to be determined how it will play out in the mid to long-term.”

In written testimony, Locklear expressed support for increased US military ties with Indonesia, the largest country in the Southeast Asian region where the US is keen to boost its military presence.

He said the special forces unit Kopassus — with which Washington restored cooperation in 2010 after a 12-year break because of human rights concerns — has undergone a “near-complete transformation.”

Rights activists, however, still voice worries about alleged abuses by Kopassus, particularly in West Papua.

Associated Press