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Gates: U.S.-China relationship improving

SINGAPORE — Military relations between the U.S. and China are now on “a more positive trajectory” after recent setbacks, but the two countries should do more to strengthen ties and work together to solve regional problems, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday.

In opening remarks at a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Liang Guanglie, Gates said the two governments agree that the military aspect of their overall relationship is “underdeveloped.” Some progress toward correcting that imbalance has been made in recent months, Gates said, noting his own visit to Beijing in January and other high-level defense exchanges.

“As I leave office at the end of this month, I believe that our military relationship is on a more positive trajectory,” Gates said.

He noted that Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has accepted an invitation to visit China in July.

In response, Liang told Gates that he, too, believes the relationship is improving.

Reporters were escorted from the defense chiefs’ meeting room before Liang finished his opening remarks. They met on the opening day of the Shangri-La Dialogue, the pre-eminent annual Asian security conference, where Gates will deliver a policy speech Saturday.

In what Gates and others see as an encouraging sign, China for the first time chose to send its defense minister to the conference, now in its 10th year. Guanglie is scheduled to deliver a keynote address on Sunday, one day after Gates departs.

A central theme of Gates’ message in Singapore is that Asian nations should not believe that impending U.S. defense budget cuts will lead to a smaller U.S. military presence in Asia. U.S. officials are concerned that some in the region could tilt toward China if they believe they are being abandoned by the U.S. or perceive less-sturdy assurances of American support in the long run.

The main U.S. military presence in Asia is in Japan and South Korea, but Washington also has close military ties to the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan and Singapore. The Pentagon is in the midst of an internal review of its force alignment in the region, with the outcome expected to call for a wider range of military exchanges, exercises and ship, aircraft and troop rotations in Southeast Asia.

How that is achieved will depend to a large degree on how deeply the Pentagon cuts its budget in coming years.

President Barack Obama on April 13 announced a plan to reduce defense spending by $400 billion over the next 12 years, and some in Congress — as well as some independent analysts — are calling for far deeper reductions. With an end in sight for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, defense savings are central to a broader effort to shrink government deficits.

Gates has made relations with China a priority during his 4½ years as defense secretary, recognizing its increasing economic strength and a military modernization program that is proceeding apace even as the U.S. faces budget constraints.

The U.S.-China relationship is fraught with friction on many fronts: trade and economic policy, regional and global politics, and defense policy. The latest stir is over allegations that computer hackers in China broke into Google’s email system, and that personal Gmail accounts of several hundred people, including senior U.S. government officials, had been exposed.

The Obama administration said Thursday that the FBI is investigating, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters, “These allegations are very serious.” Google said it traced the origin of the attacks to Jinan, China, the home city of a military vocational school whose computers were linked to a more sophisticated attack on Google’s systems 17 months ago.

In early 2010 China froze military-to-military relations with the U.S. in protest of an announced $6.4 billion arms sale to Taiwan, the autonomous island that Beijing sees as a renegade province. U.S. law requires weapons support to ensure Taiwan’s self-defense.

In remarks to reporters traveling with him earlier this week, Gates said he doubts China aims to match U.S. military power but thinks it is tailoring its buildup in ways that will extend its influence in Asia.

“The Chinese have learned a powerful lesson from the Soviet experience,” he said, alluding to the economic burden — ultimately unsustainable — that the Soviets bore in trying to keep up with Washington in a Cold War arms race.

“But I think they are intending to build capabilities that give them a considerable freedom of action in Asia and the opportunity to extend their influence,” he said.

He cited as examples anti-ship missiles, cyber weapons and anti-satellite weapons. He did not mention Taiwan by name, but there is a worry in Washington that the Chinese are seeking the means to compel Taiwan to reunite with the mainland — by force if necessary.

Gates denies that the U.S. is trying to contain China. He says the U.S. accepts that Beijing will remain a global power into the foreseeable future. For that reason it is important that the U.S. remain willing to talk directly with Chinese leaders, he said.

“We are not trying to hold China down,” Gates said Thursday. “China has been a great power for thousands of years. It is a global power, and it will be a global power.”