By David Boey
Defence Correspondent
Rumsfeld also questions why Beijing has so many missiles aimed at Taiwan
The United States yesterday delivered its most blunt warning yet against China's defence spending and asked why it had aimed so many missiles at Taiwan.
America's straight-talking Defence Secretary, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, used the first session of the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum to also criticise China for not disclosing the full extent of its military spending.
The alert on its higher expenditure is contained in a US Department of Defence annual study on China's military, which is due to go to the US Congress later this month.
Previewing the study, he said China now has the world's third-largest military budget behind the United States and Russia and the largest in Asia. He did not give the size of China's military budget.
Mr Rumsfeld, who joined some 250 security and defence officials at the 4th Shangri-La Dialogue at the Shangri-La Hotel, did not mince his words when he warned that China's improved ballistic missile units would allow them to "reach targets in many areas of the world".
"Since no nation threatens China, one wonders: Why this growing investment? Why these continuing large and expanding arms purchases?" he asked.
Mr Rumsfeld called on China to emphasise political freedom instead.
His remarks indicate an increasingly tough stance towards China by the Bush administration, which has, among other things, disagreed with Beijing over trade, currency and human rights issues.
The New York Times reported that the remarks were notable because they came at an Asian security conference attended by defence ministers and military specialists from across Asia and the Pacific Rim.
Mr Rumsfeld's trademark no-nonsense, candid style set the scene for a lively, no-holds barred discussion that has been the hallmark of the talks, organised by London's International Institute for Strategic Studies.
The talks are the only forum in the region which allow Asia-Pacific defence ministers and policy-makers to exchange frank views, or float new ideas to gauge how fellow security planners react to shifts in policies.
The head of the five-strong Chinese government delegation took on Mr Rumsfeld during the 40-minute question-and-answer session.
Mr Cui Tiankai, a Foreign Ministry official, asked: "Do you truly believe that China is under no threat whatsoever from any part of the world? And do you truly believe that the United States feel threatened by the so-called emergence of China?"
Replying, Mr Rumsfeld said he knew of no country that threatened China, and added: "The answer is, 'No, we don't feel threatened by the emergence of China.' If everyone is agreed that the situation between the People's Republic of China and Taiwan is going to be resolved in a peaceful way, then one has to ask, 'Why this significant increase in ballistic missiles opposite Taiwan?' "
Mr Rumsfeld also dismissed a commentator's remark that the US Navy is weaker today because it has fewer ships.
He said that America's sea power has become far superior, thanks to better weapons technology.
To underline his point, he said: "Say you have 10 dumb bombs for hitting a target and you put five smart bombs that can hit a target every time. Are you better off with five or 10 bombs? "The answer is you're better off with five smart bombs than 10 or 15 dumb bombs."
