Addressing a plenary session of the Asia Security Conference, being organised here by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, Mr. Rumsfeld said China could face "a consequence" by exercising its "free choice" of declining to take its neighbours and others into confidence about its military profile and defence modernisation.
Musharraf "key ally" in war against terror
By P.S. Suryanarayana
SINGAPORE: United States Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Saturday warned China for its perceived lack of transparency in defence spending, while showering praise on Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf for "courage" and "leadership" in the global war against terrorism.
Addressing a plenary session of the Asia Security Conference, being organised here by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, Mr. Rumsfeld said China could face "a consequence" by exercising its "free choice" of declining to take its neighbours and others into confidence about its military profile and defence modernisation.
He did not, however, spell out what the "consequence" might be.
The Pentagon chief said: "The Chinese people are educated, talented, and live in a nation with great potential. China has a strong economic growth rate and an industrious workforce. But there are aspects of China's actions that can complicate their relationships with other nations. The lack of transparency with respect to their military investments understandably causes concerns for some of their neighbours."
Asked about Afghanistan leader Hamid Karzai's frustration that Pakistan was "part of the problem and not of the solution" insofar as international terrorism was concerned, Mr. Rumsfeld said Gen. Musharraf was working in a "difficult" environment in a "difficult country." While he had got the better of the terrorist problem in the urban areas of Pakistan, the same could not be said of the rural areas and the tribal tracts where Islamabad's writ had hardly ever run.
Hailing Gen. Musharraf as "a key ally in the war against violent extremists," Mr. Rumsfeld said "Pakistan exemplifies the importance of developing mutually beneficial military-to-military relationships." He underlined how a Pakistani admiral was now commanding a naval task force along the waterways stretching from the Gulf of Oman to the southern border of Kenya in the Indian Ocean.
