- The Pentagon is preparing to release a report on the
Chinese military warning that the US should take more seriously the possibility
that China may emerge as a strategic rival, according to three sources
familiar with the report.
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- Some officials at the State Department and the National
Security Council are concerned that the congressionally mandated report
paints an antagonistic picture of China, according to one person familiar
with the report. There is also concern that the report will complicate
US efforts to work with China to encourage North Korea to return to the
negotiating table over its nuclear programme.
-
- President George W. Bush came to office in 2001 calling
China a "strategic competitor" rather than a "strategic
partner", the term favoured by the Clinton administration. But US-China
relations have improved markedly since the 2001 al-Qaeda attacks on the
US, as China has co-operated in the US "war on terror". However,
the Pentagon report appears to bring the administration closer to the views
expressed by Mr Bush before he became president.
-
- Two sources said the report would mention "assassin's
mace" strategies - a term employed during China's warring states period
that referred to secret weapons and strategies used to deceive and quickly
defeat enemies - which the People's Liberation Army could be developing
for use against Taiwan.
-
- While the report has not been finalised, and could still
be subject to revision, it is expected to emphasise "known unknowns"
- including the lack of US knowledge about the actual size of the Chinese
defence budget and its future military strategy. The language is an attempt
to emphasise that the US should not accept at face value China's statements
that it intends to emerge as a peaceful power.
-
- The more controversial elements of the report were written
by Michael Pillsbury, a former assistant undersecretary of defence, who
has been critical of the level of secrecy surrounding China's military.
One source said the NSC was opposing Mr Pillsbury's views because they
would fuel hardliners in Beijing.
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- The source said the report, which could be submitted
to Congress as early as this week, said the Pentagon was simply responding
to congressional pressure.
-
- He said Duncan Hunter, chairman of the House armed services
committee, and China hawks on the Senate armed services committee were
concerned that previous reports had been too soft in assessing China's
future strategies.
-
- In recent months senior US officials, including Donald
Rumsfeld, defence secretary, and Porter Goss, Central Intelligence Agency
director, have voiced concerns about the rapidly expanding Chinese military.
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- © Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2005.
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- http://news.ft.com/cms/s/a6635eb8-ccb9-11d9-bb87-00000e2511c8.html
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