Rumsfeld urges China to be open about its military expansion

Описание: (19 Oct 2005) SHOTLIST

1. Donald Rumsfeld, US secretary of defence, walking into room
2. Wide of room with US and Chinese delegations
3. US delegation
4. Chinese delegation
5. Rumsfeld walking to podium for speech
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Rumsfeld, US Secretary of Defence:
"Many countries, for example, have questions about the pace and scope of China's military expansion."
7. US military seated
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Rumsfeld, US Secretary of Defence:
"A growth in China's power projection understandably leads other nations to question intentions and to adjust their behaviour in some fashion."
9. Wide of room

STORYLINE

US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld has urged China to be more open about its military buildup, saying the secretive nature of the expansion is raising global suspicions.

Rumsfeld, on his first visit as Defence Secretary, spoke at the Central Party School, the Communist Party's top training centre for mid-career cadres and its main ideological think tank.

Later Rumsfeld was meeting with President Hu Jintao and his defence minister, General Cao Gangchuan.

In his remarks at the Central Party School, whose students are people the party regards as its rising stars, Rumsfeld applauded China's recent dramatic economic growth and said the United States would welcome a peaceful and prosperous China, but cautioned against the secretive nature of China's military growth.

"A growth in China's power projection understandably leads other nations to question intentions and to adjust their behaviour in some fashion." said Rumsfeld.

He urged China to be more transparent about its military buildup and said history suggests that greater openness in the military and economic fields is eventually tied to openness in the political sphere.

Rumsfeld arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for a three-day visit in advance of US President George W. Bush's planned visit in November.

In an interview with reporters accompanying him from Washington on Tuesday, Rumsfeld said the United States and other countries would like to know why the Chinese government has understated its defence spending.

He mentioned no budget figures, but the Pentagon said last summer that China may be spending 90 (b) billion US Dollars (75 (b) billion Euro) on its military this year, three times the announced total.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan, when asked about Rumsfeld's remark on Tuesday, told reporters that China has published defence reports in recent years to elaborate on its policy objectives and expenditures.

He added he hoped Rumsfeld's visit would increase his understanding of China's policy of firmly taking a peaceful road.

China agreed to allow Rumsfeld to visit the headquarters of the strategic rocket forces at Qinghe, making him the first U.S. official ever to see the Second Artillery complex, according to Pentagon officials.

The Chinese, however, denied Rumsfeld's request to visit the Western Hills command centre, an underground facility that serves as a national military command post. No foreigner is believed to have been inside Western Hills.

Rumsfeld's visit is only the third by a US defence secretary in the past decade and the first since July 2000.

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