Pentagon hits at Beijing’s military secrecy

China’s reluctance to come clean about the scope of its military activities increases the risk of misunderstandings in a highly charged part of the world, the Pentagon has argued.

In its annual report to Congress on China’s military and security developments, the US defence department also notes a steady increase in Beijing’s military capabilities, including hundreds of missiles in the Taiwan strait.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Opinion: America must find new China strategy - Aug-08
US ventures into troubled Asian waters - Aug-03
Editorial: Spat over Spratlys - Aug-03
US tells China not to exploit Iran sanctions - Aug-02
China blasts Clinton’s maritime venture - Jul-30
Lex: Renminbi internationalisation - Jul-28

While Beijing announced in March a military budget of $78.6bn (£50.2bn) – the latest in 20 years of annual increases – the Pentagon estimates China’s total military-related spending for 2009 at more than $150bn.

“The limited transparency in China’s military and security affairs en­hances uncertainty and increases the potential for misunderstanding and miscalculation,” the report says, in a seeming allusion to the risk of confrontation. While the People’s Liberation Army has made “modest” improvements in this respect, “many uncertainties remain regarding how China will use its expanding military capabilities”.

The Obama administration has been pushing China to boost mutual understanding by permitting more military-to-military contact, which Beijing largely put on hold in the wake of the US announcement in January of $6.4bn in arms sales to Taiwan.

Despite prodding by President Barack Obama for Beijing to do so, it has yet to extend an invitation this year for Robert Gates, US defence secretary, to visit.

Last month, bilateral relations appeared to sour further when China responded angrily to a suggestion by Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, that Washington could help resolve territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Many in Beijing saw her words as an effort to unite other regional powers against China.

The report welcomes China’s increased contributions to international peacekeeping and humanitarian and anti-piracy drives, which have been largely made possible by its greater ability to project power at a distance. In other contexts, this ability, although limited, causes the US concern.

The Pentagon notes that, while relations with Taiwan have improved, by December last year China had more than 1,000 short-range missiles opposite the island and was “upgrading the lethality of this force”.

It says nationalist, demographic, regional and other pressures could jeopardise China’s decision to allow its economy to develop by “managing” external tensions at least until 2020.

It says China has the world’s “most active land-based ballistic and cruise missile programme” and is modernising nuclear forces.

It adds that the PLA’s navy has the largest force of fighting ships in Asia, with more than 60 submarines, 55 medium and large amphibious vessels and roughly 85 missile-equipped patrol craft. Its ground forces number 1.25m, with about a third of them stationed in the three military regions opposite Taiwan.