Apr.26 (China Military News cited from Bloomberg and written by By Frederik Balfour) -- The U.S. seeks deeper military ties with China and is hopeful of a resolution with Japan on the future of a military base in Okinawa, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia, Kurt Campbell, said today in Hong Kong.

“It is the desire and opinion of the U.S. that military- to-military contacts need to be resumed and should be regularized,” Campbell said in a press conference. “There is a start-stop quality in the past, and we seek a more steady momentum. This is an essential missing element in high-level dialogue between China and the U.S.”

PLA Navy Warship's first visiting on U.S. San Diego Naval Base in 1997

The U.S. envoy arrived in the city today from Washington and will travel to Tokyo tomorrow for talks with the Japanese government, the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong said. His visit will come on the heels of demonstrations yesterday by more than 90,000 Okinawans against keeping an American military base on the island.

“We believe that taking steps on Okinawa to ease the number of military facilities and to solve issues such as noise and pollution are critical,” Campbell said.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said he will work to “ease the burden” of the people of Okinawa after the protests yesterday.