Chief of Defense of Denmark General Peter Bartram was on a five-day visit to China in mid-June, with increasing and strengthened cooperation between Denmark and China in the field of defense, including, but not limited to, peacekeeping and escort missions on the agenda.
At a press conference held on June 19 General Peter Bartram said that the Chinese and Danish counterparts had agreed to study how to deepen ties in those areas.
Danish and Chinese forces have been working together in counter piracy operations such as escorting ships outside the Horn of Africa. “Denmark has a keen interest in counter-piracy. We account for 9 percent of maritime-based world transportation, so we have a keen interest in maritime cooperation,” Bartram said. “I believe China has the same interest.”
Chinese and Danish navies also removed chemical agents from Syria in 2013. . Bartram said those experiences formed the foundation of future cooperation between the two countries.
The Danish navy chief will visit China in November to discuss more concrete plans with his Chinese counterpart.
During his visit the Danish General stayed in Beijing and Xi’an, where he held meetings with high level officials including State Councillor and Defense Minister General Chang Wanquan and Chief of the General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) General Fang Fenghui.
In addition, he gave a speech to students at the PLA National Defense University, as well as visited the Beijing-based Ministry of National Defense Peacekeeping Centre, a Tianjin-based Air Force division and a guard division under the Beijing Military Area Command.
The Chief of Defense is the highest-ranking military officer in Denmark and supervises a large part of Denmark’s military spending. Under responsibility of the Minister of Defense, the position is the commander of the Royal Danish Army, the Royal Danish Navy and the Royal Danish Air Force. The position also serves as military adviser to the Minister of Defense and head of the Defense Command.
On the 20th of March, 2012 General Bartram was appointed Chief of Defense and promoted to four-star general.
Sources: Denmark in China, globaltimes.cn
