Chinese military delegation touches down in Cuba for official visit

HAVANA (AFP) Sep 15, 2003
A high-ranking military delegation from China began a series of meetings with Cuban army officers and other officials here Monday as the two countries seek to deepen their military links, according to a government report.

Lieutenant General Tan Yuexin, director general of the Administration Office of China's Central Military Commission, is heading the visiting delegation that will be in Cuba until Thursday, according to a report in the Cuban Communist Party newspaper, Granma.

The Chinese officers will conduct "an extensive program of activities" during the next couple of days and visit military units, as well as "places of economic, historical and cultural interest," the report said.

The visit marks the second such trip this year by a Chinese military delegation to the Caribbean island nation. Cuba has the only communist government in the Americas.

WAR.WIRE