Maiden flight of the Chinese stealth aircraft, amid U.S. visit

Revealing a heightened military competition, more than a reconciliation between the two powers, China has for the first stealth fighter takes off her, even as U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, was received by Chinese President Hu Jintao, Tuesday, January 11. While the Pentagon chief was trying to restart the US-China military relations on a proper footing, before the Chinese president's visit to Washington next week, photographs of the plane J-20 have been published by the official press.

The hunter to the fuselage section made a flight of fifteen minutes over the Sichuan province (southwest), witnesses said, confirming the rapid progress in its design. The first flight of the jet J-20 sooner than expected by some experts, comforting those who say the pace of development of new weapons in China is underestimated.

President Hu Jintao did not apparently been informed, assured a senior U.S. official. "It was clear that no civilians in the room had been informed" of the flight of fighter-bomber, the official said. Hu Jintao yet the army chief as president of the powerful Central Military Commission.

Mr. Gates told the press have asked a question directly to President Hu on the inaugural flight. "He said that this flight test was unrelated to my visit," assured the U.S. Secretary. Asked about the flight, Mr. Gates said he had "been consistently concerned about." "This is one reason why I attach importance to dialogue" on security between the U.S.

and China, "he said. The United States is currently the only country to have an operational stealth fighter-bomber. A spokesman for China's diplomacy said on Tuesday "normal" that China is modernizing its army. "It does no country in particular," he said. The China visit of Robert Gates, his first since 2007, symbolizes "new progress" in military relations, also said Hu Jintao, ensuring that the Pentagon chief's talks in Beijing had allowed both countries to exchange ideas "in a very sincere".

Mr. Gates returned the greetings of President Hu Jintao Barack Obama, he will receive on January 19 in Washington.

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