Image via WikipediaBEIJING (NYT)-- Stealth fighter jets in development. Guided missiles dubbed "carrier killers." As America's top defense official visits China next week, its growing military capabilities are redrawing the security landscape in Asia, putting the country with the largest standing army on a potential collision course with the United States.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates,
who arrives late Sunday for a five-day visit, will formally restore military-to-military exchanges, cut off a year ago by Beijing over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. His visit marks the first to China by a serving defense secretary since William Cohen's in 2000.
In the past year, China's diplomatic and military stance has became increasingly muscular, even confrontational, most notably at sea. Worried Asian neighbors turned to the United States, which was already stepping up its engagement with the region. Read more here
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates,
who arrives late Sunday for a five-day visit, will formally restore military-to-military exchanges, cut off a year ago by Beijing over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. His visit marks the first to China by a serving defense secretary since William Cohen's in 2000.
In the past year, China's diplomatic and military stance has became increasingly muscular, even confrontational, most notably at sea. Worried Asian neighbors turned to the United States, which was already stepping up its engagement with the region. Read more here
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/07/AR2011010700295.html
"We are settling into what all observers agree is a Sino-American security rivalry. The key is to manage and stabilize it so it does not become a conflict," said Dan Blumenthal, a former China country director at the Pentagon and a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C.
China says it's not a threat and its military is purely for defense - which in its definition includes deterring Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing claims as its territory, from declaring formal independence.
Chinese officials have been ratcheting down their rhetoric, partly to ensure a smooth visit by President Hu Jintao to Washington later this month. Military contacts with the United States quietly resumed in October, and the invitation to Gates is the strongest signal to date of a more conciliatory approach.
"We are settling into what all observers agree is a Sino-American security rivalry. The key is to manage and stabilize it so it does not become a conflict," said Dan Blumenthal, a former China country director at the Pentagon and a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C.
China says it's not a threat and its military is purely for defense - which in its definition includes deterring Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing claims as its territory, from declaring formal independence.
Chinese officials have been ratcheting down their rhetoric, partly to ensure a smooth visit by President Hu Jintao to Washington later this month. Military contacts with the United States quietly resumed in October, and the invitation to Gates is the strongest signal to date of a more conciliatory approach.
