Agence France-Presse,
Washington: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday he will raise US concerns about the lack of transparency surrounding China's military programs when he meets with Chinese leaders next week.
Gates will visit China, South Korea and Japan in his first trip to northeast Asia as US defense secretary.
Asked at a news conference whether he considered China a military threat, Gates said he did not.
“I have concerns with a variety of the military programs that they have under way and the developmental programs. I have concern with the lack of transparency,” he said.
“And those are the kinds of issues that we will be talking about in addition to how we can strengthen the relationship,” he said.
In Beijing, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said the visit could help smooth relations strained by suspicion over China's military buildup.
“China attaches a high level of importance to the visit and believes the visit will promote mutual understanding as well as healthy and stable development between the two militaries,” foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.
Liu said Gates would arrive in China on Sunday for the three-day visit and would meet with Chinese military leaders.
Gates has taken a lower key approach to China than his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, whose tenure was marked by periods of sharp tension between the two powers.
But a Chinese anti-satellite test in January has deepened US military concerns about Beijing's intentions.
Annual Pentagon reports on China's military power also have tracked Beijing's stepped up military spending to acquire new warships, aircraft and missiles capable of projecting power fare beyond its shores.
Admiral Michael Mullen, the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who visited China as chief of naval operations shortly before being sworn in, has pressed for greater engagement with China.
“My sense is they're not anxious to get into any kind of conflicts with us or anybody else, nor are we,” Mullen said last week.
