The US is not looking to “hold China down,” but wants to forge a stronger dialogue with Beijing’s expanding military, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said yesterday.
Speaking to reporters aboard his plane en route to Singapore, Gates said he was encouraged by recent signs of progress in security ties with China even amid a military buildup.
“We are not trying to hold China down. China has been a great power for thousands of years. It is a global power and will be a global power,” he said.
“So the question is how we work our way through this in a way that assures that we continue to have positive relations in areas like economics and other areas that are important to both of us, and manage whatever differences of view we have in the other areas,” he said.
His comments came a day before scheduled talks today with China’s Liang Guanglie (梁光烈) at an Asia security summit in Singapore, where he is also due to meet other defense ministers.
On a final global tour before he steps down as Pentagon chief at the end of this month, Gates said China’s military modernization was “proceeding apace” and that Beijing was pursuing weapons that were “a concern to us.”
The weaponry posed a potential threat to US aircraft carriers, with China developing “long-range, accurate cruise and ballistic anti-ship missiles,” a larger navy, a new stealth fighter jet and cyber and anti-satellite capabilities, he said.
However, the former CIA director said China was not trying to rival the US as a global military power, and instead was focused on extending its reach in the Pacific.
“I think the Chinese have learned a powerful lesson from the Soviet experience and they do not intend to compete with us across the full range of military capabilities, but I think they are intending to build capabilities to give them considerable freedom of action in Asia and an opportunity to extend their influence,” he said. “That’s why I believe this strategic dialogue is so important.”
In his first visit to China in 2007, Gates had laid out an ambitious agenda for building up military relations with Beijing.
“It’s obviously hit snags and obstacles along the way, but I think we’re in a pretty good place now, pretty realistic,” he said.
US arms sales to Taiwan have been a recurring sticking point, with China suspending ties whenever Washington announces new weapons deals.
Gates acknowledged that arms sales remained a delicate issue, but said the US government over the past several years had tried to “thread the needle pretty carefully” to balance Taiwan’s security needs with China’s concerns.
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