BEIJING (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert
Gates is seeking to ease Sino-U.S. military
tensions during a visit to China, but mistrust
runs deep between the U.S. armed forces and
the People's Liberation Army.
Here are some of the top issues Gates will
grapple with in Beijing in a trip from Sunday to
Wednesday, which precedes a visit to the United
States by Chinese President Hu Jintao.
TAIWAN
U.S. arms sales to Taiwan are the biggest irritant
in U.S.-China military relations. Beijing has used
strong language and even threatened sanctions
on U.S. firms that sell arms to Taiwan in an
attempt to deter them.
China cut off many ties with the U.S. military for
most of 2010 and turned down a proposed
fence-mending visit by Gates last summer,
because of the Obama administration's
proposed $6.4 billion arms package to Taiwan.
China deems Taiwan a renegade province.
Gates is expected to again seek to convince the
People's Liberation Army that the U.S. and
Chinese militaries need to maintain stable
communication -- despite differences over
Taiwan -- to prevent misunderstandings that
could trigger confrontation.
China has never renounced the use of force to
bring Taiwan under its control, and the Pentagon
warned last year that Beijing had expanded its
military edge over the island. The United States is
Taiwan's top arms supplier and is obliged by the
1979 Taiwan Relations Act to help the island
defend itself.
NORTH KOREA
U.S. officials, including Gates, believe China is
best positioned to avert a conflict on the Korean
peninsula by using its influence over North
Korea, which alarmed the region by shelling a
South Korean island and revealing advances in
its nuclear program. China is Pyongyang's only
major economic and diplomatic partner.
China voiced misgivings about U.S. and South
Korean joint military drills mounted in response
to North Korea's shelling of the South Korean
island in November and the sinking of a South
Korean warship in March.
Gates, who travels to South Korea and Japan
after China, will likely press Chinese officials
about North Korea, including about Pyongyang's
nuclear ambitions.
TERRITORIAL DISPUTES
The Obama administration has made a point of
bolstering ties with Asian allies since taking office
in 2009, sometimes irritating Beijing, which fears
strategic encirclement.
One flashpoint is the South China Sea, where
Beijing is wary of perceived meddling by
Washington in China's territorial disputes with
Southeast Asian nations over an area rich in
energy and key to shipping.
Beijing has also looked warily on U.S. military
drills near its waters, despite South Korean and
U.S. insistence they are a response to North
Korean provocations.
U.S. ally Japan has been involved in a high-
profile territorial dispute with China over islands
known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in
China.
Beijing has long accused the U.S. military of
illegal trespass into its Exclusive Economic Zones,
or EEZs, defined by a U.N. treaty as waters
within 200 nautical miles of its coast. The United
States says it has the right to conduct
intelligence-gathering activities in EEZs.
MILITARY BUILD-UP
With its economy booming, China has
significantly increased its military spending,
developing capabilities that expand its reach and
increase the chance of friction with U.S. forces in
the Pacific.
Already boasting the largest army in the world,
China is upgrading its combat aircraft, missile
capabilities and naval forces. Photos published
on websites and other media in recent weeks
appear to show that China has a prototype of a
stealth fighter jet.
China may be ready to launch its first aircraft
carrier in 2011, according to Chinese military and
political sources. It has also made advances in its
anti-ship ballistic missile program, according to
the U.S. military.
Also, the Pentagon has been plain-spoken about
its belief that many of the cyber attacks on U.S.
government computer systems are believed to
originate in China.
Chinese officials point out their defense spending
is still far lower than that of the United States and
that China is not seeking confrontation. But
Washington and its allies say they want more
clarity about China's military intentions.
China set its military budget for 2010 at 532.1
billion yuan, ($80.3 billion), a 7.5 percent rise on
2009. It has yet to unveil its budget for 2011. The
Obama administration last year set the U.S.
Defense budget for the fiscal year of 2011 at $708
billion.
RARE EARTHS
The Pentagon is due to release a report in
coming weeks on rare earth minerals, vital in a
slew of high-tech products that are used in
some U.S. weapons systems.
China produces about 97 percent of the global
supply of rare earths, and at the end of
December cut its export quotas by 35 percent
for the first half of 2011 versus a year ago, saying
it wanted to preserve ample reserves.
MILITARY EXCHANGES
Restrictions imposed by the U.S. Congress more
than decade ago on military-to-military
exchanges are another long-term irritant in U.S.-
China military relations.
Current legislation prohibits military exchanges
that could "create a national security risk" by
exposing PLA representatives to certain U.S.
capabilities including nuclear operations, military
space operations and reconnaissance operations.
The PLA strongly opposes such restrictions.
Source: http://us.mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7090V620110110?ca=rdt
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