A Pentagon study due to be released later this month concludes that China's defense budget is now the largest in Asia and third largest in the world, he said.

"Since no nation threatens China, one wonders: why this growing investment? Rumsfeld asked. "Why these continuing large weapons purchases?"

Rumsfeld delivered the warning, one of the bluntest yet by a senior US official, to an audience of Asian defense ministers and military experts gathered here for an annual international security conference.

The head of the Chinese delegation, foreign ministry official Cui Tiankai, asked Rumsfeld: "Do you truly believe that China is under no threat whatsoever from any part of the world? And do you truly believe that the United States felt threatened by the so-called emergence of China?"

Rumsfeld said he knew of no country that threatened China, and added: "The answer is, no, we don't feel threatened by the emergence of China."

"If everyone is agreed that the situation between the Peoples Republic of China and Taiwan is going to be resolved in a peaceful way then one has to ask why this significant increase in ballistic missiles opposite Taiwan," he said.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in an opening speech late Friday, cautioned that "a strategy of confronting China will incur its enmity without seriously blocking its growth, while any attempt to contain China will have few takers in the region".

But Rumsfeld said escalating military budgets in the region "are matters that should be of concern," pointing to rivalries that endure despite the end of the Cold War.

"China appears to be expanding its missile forces, allowing them to reach targets in many areas of the world while also expanding its missile capabilities within this region," he said.

"China also is improving its ability to project power, and is developing advanced systems of military technology," he said.

Rumsfeld dropped a line from his prepared remarks that said: "One might be concerned that this buildup is putting the delicate military balance in the region at risk -- especially, but not only, with respect to Taiwan."

China earlier this year announced a 12.6 percent increase in military spending to 244.65 billion yuan, or 29.5 billion dollars.

Rumsfeld did not say what the Pentagon estimates actual Chinese military spending to be. A senior US defense official traveling with the secretary said the annual report on Chinese military power, which is due to go to Congress later this month, attempts to quantify it for the first time.

In his speech, Rumsfeld also reiterated US concerns about North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

"Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions threaten the security and stability of the region, and indeed the world," he said.

He said China was one country that could persuade North Korea to return to the six party talks.

"China's emergence is an important new reality of this era -- one that the countries of the region would no doubt like to embrace," he said.

"Indeed, the world would welcome a China committed to peaceful solutions and whose industrious and well-educated people contribute to international peace and mutual prosperity."

But he said political freedom has not followed economic growth in China, creating uncertainties for the future.

"Ultimately, China likely will need to embrace some form of open, representative government if it is to fully achieve the benefits to which its people aspire," he said.

Rumsfeld also made it clear that the Pentagon expects to strengthen military ties with Asia's other rising power, India.

"It's pretty clear where India's going, and one would anticipate the relationship with India will continue to strengthen as we go through the period ahead," Rumsfeld told reporters on the flight from Washington.

"With respect to China, it's not completely clear which way they're going because of the tension ... between the nature of their political system and the nature of their economic system," he said.

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links
SpaceDaily
Search SpaceDaily
Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express
China News from SinoDaily.com

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News