US seeks more info on China's military

The Pentagon releases an annual assessment as Secretary Gates prepares to speak next weekend at regional security talks in Singapore.

from the May 29, 2007 edition

Page 2 of 2

Page 1 | 2

"This is not just a concern for the United States," said one defense official during a background briefing at the Pentagon on Friday upon release of the report. "Many aspects of China's military programs lead other nations to question China's intentions and to adjust their own behavior."

Such developments prompted Mr. Rumsfeld to go on the offensive two years ago: He turned up tensions during the 2005 security conference, openly questioning why Beijing felt the need to modernize its military. "Since no nation threatens China, one wonders: why this growing investment?"

Rumsfeld's remarks were seen as "picking on the Chinese," in the words of one analyst, and his speech served to foment tensions between the two nations. Relations had already been on edge since April 2001, when an American spy plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet and the Chinese detained more than 20 US service men and women for days.

Today, the Pentagon's view of China is still marked by concern – but the report issued last week has more of a wait-and-see tone than in years past. On Friday, Gates said he thought the Pentagon's report on China was factual and did not exaggerate the threat.

Still, Gates noted that while Beijing has been more forthcoming in recent years, he'd like to see it become more so.

"We wish that there were greater transparency, that they would talk more about what their intentions are, what their strategies are," he said.

The US and China continue to host each other for a number of high-level, military-to-military exchanges, including a visit to China earlier this month by Adm. Timothy Keating, head of US Pacific Command.

These kinds of exchanges are good for building relationships between the two countries, says Adam Segal, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. But they have another value.

"There has always been a much greater inequality about what we show the Chinese and what the Chinese show us," he says. Yet the US can send a powerful message every time it shows off its own capabilities. "We show them what we have as a deterrence," he says.

1 | Page 2