This year's Shangri-La Dialogue saw constructive exchanges among
participants as they welcomed China's readiness to discuss security
matters with Asia-Pacific countries, analysts said Monday.
The dialogue is an inter-governmental debate among Asia-Pacific
states and major outside powers on key security issues facing the
region.
The security forum held in Singapore over the weekend was
constructive partly because someone as senior as the Deputy Chief
of General Staff, Lieutenant-General Zhang Qinsheng, represented
China for the first time, said Liu Jiangyong, a researcher with the
Institute of International Studies, under Tsinghua University.
General Zhang assured the gathering of the region's defence
ministers that China's strategic intent was purely "defensive",
spelling out Beijing's peaceful development strategy and defense
policy.
Reflecting the increasingly confident and assertive stance
befiting its status as an economic powerhouse, China's openness and
transparency China was applauded by the other participants, Liu
said.
Most Asian countries do not see China's military build-up or
increased defense spending as a threat to regional security.
Instead, they see it as the specific response to the cross-Taiwan
Straits situation, as expressed by Singapore Prime Minister Lee
Hsien Loo, Liu said.
While China displayed openness in its defense policy, the US
downplayed concerns over Beijing's military power.
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said at the forum that
increased dialogue between the two countries, particularly
establishing a hotline, would help them prevent misunderstandings
and miscalculations.
His remark was in contrast to that of his predecessor, Donald
Rumsfeld, who used the forum to question China's motives in
increasing its military spending, and urging it to show greater
transparency.
Pentagon's conciliatory tone indicated the possibility of better
communication between the two countries in defense matters, Liu
said.
Gates offered China briefings on the US missile defense system,
too, to reassure it that it does not threaten Beijing's nuclear
deterrent.
His remarks came a day after General Zhang criticized the
defense shields being developed by the US and Japan as a protection
against possible missile attacks by North Korea.
"We would be pleased to sit down with (China) and talk about the
capabilities and technical characteristics of this system and its
limitation," Gates said.
This constructive approach of the two key players in Asia
Pacific "will add to the confidence in the region," Liu said.
(China Daily June 5, 2007)
