"But we will have our people on board together with them. If it's necessary to do any intervention, it will be done by the respective countries," he added. Najib's Singaporean counterpart, Teo said the republic strongly supported the initiative proposed by Najib at the last Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
By Keith Bradsher
The commander of United States military forces in the Pacific and most of the Indian Ocean sounded a conciliatory note toward China on Sunday. He called for closer cooperation between the United States and Chinese militaries and an agreement about how to coordinate responses to natural disasters like the tsunami last Dec. 26.
While the United States and China have extensive political and economic contacts, ''the military side of this thing has been lacking, and I think it's time to change that,'' said the American commander, Adm. William J. Fallon, at a news conference here. He toured China during the past week, meeting with senior military officers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.
The admiral's remarks were especially noteworthy because he spoke as President Bush and President Hu Jintao of China prepared to meet Tuesday at the United Nations. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld will visit Beijing next month.
Jin Canrong, the associate dean of the School of International Studies at People's University in Beijing, said Admiral Fallon's stance was likely to be welcomed by China. ''I think the Chinese side is eager to have normal military-to-military ties with the American Army,'' he said.
Contacts between the United States and Chinese militaries abruptly stopped after a midair collision between a Chinese jet and an American Navy reconnaissance aircraft near Hainan island on April 1, 2001. But those contacts have gradually started to resume.
United States officials were increasingly critical of China this year regarding issues including the weakness of China's currency, the yuan, and the scale of Chinese military spending. Mr. Rumsfeld made headlines in June when he warned in a speech in Singapore that rising Chinese military spending posed a threat to regional stability in Asia. Admiral Fallon avoided broad statements on Sunday, sticking to strictly military issues, and was loath to criticize China on those. ''The business of military expenditures is certainly something that is the business of the country involved,'' he said. He also said that China's military needed to modernize in many areas.
Admiral Fallon said that he had attended Mr. Rumsfeld's speech in Singapore and believed that news coverage of it over-emphasized the criticism of China. But Admiral Fallon said near the end of his remarks that he shared Mr. Rumsfeld's views over all and questioned China's need for a large military. ''We do not see an enemy to China; we do not see a threat to China,'' he said.
Admiral Fallon also said he wanted the United States and Chinese militaries to discuss avian influenza. The United States military has been concerned about the possible effect on soldiers if avian influenza were to spread among people.
Pro-Beijing news organizations were invited to the news conference here, just as Chinese news media had been invited to a news conference Admiral Fallon held in Beijing last Wednesday. Admiral Fallon went out of his way on each occasion to present the United States as no threat to China.
