"Defense Secretary Rumsfeld is willing to visit China this year, but the specific timing will be decided after further discussions between the two military sides," Colonel Tu Qiming, a defense ministry official, told the China Daily.

Tu made the remarks after the opening day of a US-China military dialogue which began Monday and focused on Taiwan.

While a host of senior US officials came to Beijing during the Bush administration's first term, Rumsfeld was not among them.

He had been expected to pay a reciprocal visit last year following an October 2003 trip to Washington by his counterpart Cao Gangchuan, who was the first Chinese defense minister in the United States since 1996.

Heading the US delegation in the special policy dialogue that ended Tuesday was Richard Lawless, the US deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia and the Pacific.

His counterpart was Zhang Bangdong, director of the foreign affairs office of the Ministry of Defense.

The two sides discussed cross-strait tensions but not the 1989 European Union arms embargo on China, Chinese officials said. Some EU countries are hoping to lift the embargo against the wishes of the United States.

They also did not touch on the North Korean nuclear issue, Tu said.

On Tuesday Lawless met Xiong Guangkai, deputy chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army, and further discussed the Taiwan issue -- the major sticking point in Sino-US relations.

"The Taiwan question is a matter of China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, it is an important principled issue linked to the core interests of the Chinese people and it is the biggest element facing Sino-US relations," Xiong said, according to Xinhua news agency.

He said China hopes the United States will oppose "Taiwan independence."

Lawless said the United States "hopes the Taiwan issue can be peacefully resolved."

The two days of talks also covered issues involving maritime military security and exchange programs between the two militaries in 2005, Tu said.

"Military relations between the US and China are very important. The US hopes to continue to push forward the development of military relations and strengthen high-level exchanges," Lawless was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

Tu said the meeting was "fruitful" and the two militaries are discussing the possibility of installing a hotline.

The talks follow an October visit to Washington by General Liang Guanglie, chairman of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army, and a July visit to China by Admiral Thomas Fargo, commander in chief of the US Pacific Command.

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