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SINGAPORE : US Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed disappointment Thursday at China's decision to call off his planned visit and said the Chinese military appeared reluctant to engage in a dialogue with the United States.
Gates told reporters before landing in Singapore for a security conference that it was his "opinion that the PLA (People's Liberation Army) is significantly less interested in developing this relationship than the political leadership of the country".
China has denounced US arms sales to Taiwan announced in January, and the move by Beijing appeared to fit a familiar pattern of postponing some scheduled high-level exchanges with the American military as a gesture of displeasure.
Gates defended the arms sales, saying it was nothing new and had not affected political or economic ties with Beijing.
"The reality is these arms sales go back to the beginning of the relationship," he said, referring to the normalisation of US-China ties in the 1970s.
Gates had planned to visit Beijing as part of an Asian tour this week, which includes an annual security conference in Singapore attended by senior military officials including from China.
Before Gates spoke to accompanying reporters on his flight to Singapore, China confirmed no arrangements had been made for him to visit Beijing.
"We attach importance to military exchanges between the two departments of defence but there are no specific arrangements yet," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters, declining to comment further.
Last week, the deputy head of the PLA general staff, Ma Xiaotian, said US arms sales to self-ruled Taiwan -- which China sees as part of its territory -- were the "foremost obstacles" to US-China military ties.
General Ma is scheduled to attend the Singapore conference, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue.
A senior Pentagon official said that Gates cancelled after Beijing said it was "not a convenient time for them".
- AFP/ir
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