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| Sunday, 12 March 2006 |
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'China must not become negative' - Rice MELBOURNE, March 11 (Reuters) - The United States and its Asia-Pacific allies must work with China to ensure that its economic and military rise does not become a "negative force", U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said. Speaking ahead of a trip to Australia that will include trilateral talks between the United States, Japan and Australia, Rice said all three needed to watch the pace and extent of China's military buildup. "I think that is something that is concerning, particularly for those of us that had a responsibility for defending the peace in the Asia-Pacific region, of which I would count all three," The Australian newspaper reported Rice as saying on Saturday. "And I think all of us in the region, particularly those of us who are long-standing allies, have a joint responsibility and obligation to try and produce conditions in which the rise of China will be a positive force in international politics, not a negative force," she said. Rice spoke in Washington to journalists from Australia, Indonesia, Peru and Chile, countries which she will visit in the coming week. Rice said the Asia-Pacific region was in "tremendous flux and change" because of the rise of the world's most populous nation. Japan's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday China should allay the fears of neighbours about its "opaque" military buildup by taking steps towards nuclear disarmament, strictly controlling exports of missile technologies and disclosing military data. China's 2.3 million-strong People's Liberation Army is the world's largest standing military force. Its official defence budget will rise 14.7 percent to 283.8 billion yuan ($35 billion) in 2006, Beijing has said. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso, who will attend the trilateral talks in Australia, caused a diplomatic flap last December when he said China's military buildup was a threat because of its lack of transparency. China's rise will be a central part of the trilateral talks, The
Australian quoted Rice as saying. |
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