Fact: Issues to watch on defense chief's China trip
(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.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Philip Barbara and Miral Fahmy)
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.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Philip Barbara and Miral Fahmy)
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