The United States is not looking to "hold China down" but is worried about its new weaponry and wants a stronger dialogue with its expanding military, Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday. Gates, speaking to reporters on his plane en route to a security forum in Singapore, said he was encouraged by recent signs of progress in security ties with China even amid the rapid military build-up.
"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 Friday with his Chinese counterpart, Liang Guanglie, at the Asia security summit in Singapore, where he is also due to meet other defence ministers.
On a final global tour before he steps down as Pentagon chief at the end of June, Gates said China's military modernisation 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 United States 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.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.