| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
WASHINGTON : A top Chinese general held talks on Tuesday with Defence Secretary Robert Gates after playing down his country's rapid military buildup, saying Beijing had no expansionist ambitions.
General Xu Caihou, China's second-ranking military officer, sought to reassure Washington on Monday ahead of his talks at the Pentagon, insisting that Beijing's military modernization was designed only to meet minimum defense requirements.
"We will never seek hegemony, military expansion or an arms race," the general told foreign policy experts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.
When asked about China's development of cruise and ballistic missiles capable of striking US warships in the Pacific, Xu said the weapons were "limited" and designed for the "minimum requirement of its (China's) national security."
Gates, who hosted Xu for dinner on Monday evening, had pushed for months for the visit and has called for dialogue between the two countries military leaders to build trust and avoid "miscalculations."
The Pentagon chief in September said China's increasingly advanced weaponry could undermine US military power in the Pacific, as American aircraft carriers and short-range fighter jets faced potential threats from Chinese missiles and anti-ship systems.
The United States has repeatedly urged China to be more transparent about its military spending, warning of a shifting balance of power in the Asia Pacific region that could cause misunderstanding.
Xu's week-long visit is the latest in an on-again, off-again effort to improve US-Chinese military ties, which have veered over the past decade between periods of crisis and brief spells of wary engagement.
Beijing cut military exchanges with Washington for months last year over a proposed 6.5-billion-dollar US arms package to Taiwan, but agreed to resume them in February.
In his remarks on Monday, Xu defended China's double-digit annual increases in defense spending as "quite low" both in real terms and as a percentage of its gross domestic product.
While US defense spending amounts to 4.8 percent of GDP, China's was only 1.4 percent, said Xu, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission.
Xu said China wanted to bolster military-to-military relations with the United States, but warned that Beijing viewed the presence of US naval ships in what it considers a 200-mile (320 kilometer) economic zone as an infringement of sovereignty.
Tensions flared earlier this year after a series of standoffs involving Chinese vessels and US surveillance ships in waters off China.
Xu said US-China relations had undergone a "smooth transition" since President Barack Obama took office in January, moving ties between the two countries to a new stage.
The general's visit comes ahead of Obama's first trip to China November 15-18.
Rainy weather forced the Pentagon to scale back a military welcoming ceremony for Xu, who has been invited on an elaborate tour of major US bases and command centers across the country this week.
During his stay ending October 31, he is scheduled to visit the US Army's Fort Benning in Georgia, US Strategic Command in Nebraska, Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, the North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego and US Pacific Command in Hawaii.
- AFP /ls
|
