U.S. Military Chief in Rare Visit to China-N.Korea Border

The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff made a visit to China's border with North Korea on Wednesday.

It was the first time in 10 years that a top U.S. military official has visited a command post of the Chinese armed forces along the border, which will be the first to be deployed in an emergency on the Korean Peninsula.

The Wall Street Journal quoted a military expert as saying the visit was "very rare" and reflected concerns that the U.S. and China might make a wrong decision in the event of a North Korean nuclear or missile provocation. The paper said the visit was a stern warning to the North against any wrong move.

Gen. Joseph Dunford flew from Beijing to Shenyang, Liaoning Province to observe military exercises at Northern Theater Command Army Force Camp in Haichung, just 200 km from the border city of Dandong. Dunford met with commander Song Puxuan to discuss military cooperation.

The command is one of five of the People's Liberation Army and houses some 430,000 troops. According to the WSJ, troops there conducted live-fire drills recently after a war of words between the U.S. and North Korea escalated.

Earlier, Dunford met with his Chinese counterpart Fang Fenghui in Beijing and agreed to bolster military cooperation.

China's Defense Ministry said the two officials also discussed Taiwan and North Korea-related issues, but did not go into details.

Dunford arrived in China on Monday after visiting South Korea on Sunday.