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Chinese military paper lays bare fears about US
COMING TO AMERICA:The PLA¡¦s
Chief of General Staff will travel to the US, following on from US Defense
Secretary Robert Gates¡¦ recent trip to Beijing
Reuters, BEIJING
Geng Yansheng, second left, a spokesman for China¡¦s Ministry of National
Defense, discusses a Chinese military policy paper from last year in Beijing
yesterday, saying that regional military deployments could be discussed when a
confidence-building mechanism is negotiated with Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
China said yesterday it faced an increasingly ¡§volatile¡¨
Asian region where the US has expanded its strategic footprint, maintaining that
better military ties between Beijing and Washington rested on respect for each
other¡¦s interests.
China¡¦s People¡¦s Liberation Army (PLA) spelled out its concerns about US
intentions in a policy paper setting out broad priorities for Beijing¡¦s growing
military forces.
The ¡§white paper¡¨ said that while China wants to avoid military confrontation
and focus on growing its economy, it sees potential security challenges across
the region, many of them bound up with Washington¡¦s web of alliances and
military forces across Asia, including on the tense Korean peninsula.
¡§Profound changes are taking shape in the Asia-Pacific strategic landscape.
Relevant major powers are increasing their strategic investment,¡¨ said China¡¦s
defense white paper for 2010 which, despite its date, was released only
yesterday.
¡§The United States is reinforcing its regional military alliances and increasing
its involvement in regional security affairs,¡¨ it said. ¡§Suspicion about China,
interference and countering moves against China from the outside are on the
increase.¡¨
US weapons sales continue to Taiwan, hampering the peaceful development of
cross-strait relations, the paper said. It also singled out the Korean peninsula
and Afghanistan as sources of worry.
¡§Asia-Pacific security is becoming more intricate and volatile,¡¨ the paper said.
¡§International military competition remains fierce.¡¨
Last year, Beijing and Washington wrangled over North Korea, an ally of China,
which ignited regional alarm by allegedly torpedoing a South Korean navy ship,
and later shelling a South Korean island.
North Korea denied downing the ship, and China refused to join other countries
in condemning Pyongyang. Instead, Beijing chided the US for holding military
exercises with South Korea in seas across from China¡¦s coast.
PLA officer, Geng Yansheng (¯Õ¶¥Í), said Beijing nonetheless wants better military
ties with Washington, and that a senior Chinese commander, the PLA Chief of
General Staff Chen Bingde (³¯¬±¼w), would visit the US next month, following on
from US Defense Secretary Robert Gates¡¦ visit to Beijing in January.
¡§Healthy and stable military ties is important for both sides in striving to
build a China-US cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual
benefit,¡¨ Geng, who is a spokesman for China¡¦s Defense Ministry, told a news
conference to introduce the white paper.
Geng indicated that China¡¦s concerns about Taiwan and other issues that it calls
¡§core¡¨ strategic interests have not eased altogether.
¡§There remain some difficulties and challenges in China-US military relations,¡¨
he said, adding that defusing them required, ¡§in particular, respecting each
other¡¦s core interests and major security concerns.¡¨
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