Japan does not regard China as a security threat but wants it to be more open about its military capabilities and motives to allay fears among its neighbors, the Japanese defense minister said Saturday.
Shigeru Ishiba told an international audience of defense officials and analysts that China must be willing to give details of its military arsenal, including ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.
31 May 2008: AP
SINGAPORE: Japan does not regard China as a security threat but wants it to be more open about its military capabilities and motives to allay fears among its neighbors, the Japanese defense minister said Saturday.
Shigeru Ishiba told an international audience of defense officials and analysts that China must be willing to give details of its military arsenal, including ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.
Ishiba said he is not critical of China's increased military spending — the declared defense budget for 2008 is US$59 billion (€38 billion), up 17.6 percent from a year ago.
"Rather if you look at the enhancement of the China's defense capability, I wonder whether that was only aimed at protecting itself," Ishiba told the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual conference.
"We are not regarding China as a threat, no. However, a country has to be transparent on what sort of military capabilities it has and for what purpose. Japan tries to be transparent in this sense, and I want to see the same transparency in China," Ishiba said.
"If we are transparent and generate mutual understanding ... then it will generate more confidence," he said.
China's 2008 defense budget increase follows a similar one last year of nearly 18 percent. China has had double-digit increases in military spending every year since the early 1990s.
Other countries say China vastly underreports how much it spends on its military, and the real figure could be three times as much as the one publicly released. The Pentagon estimates China's military expenditure in 2007 ranged from US$97 billion (€63 billion) to US$139 billion (€90 billion).
Lt. Gen. Ma Xiaotian, China's deputy chief of the general staff for foreign affairs, defended the military buildup as necessary to cope with multiple security threats. With 20,381 miles (32,800 kilometers) of land border, a 19,884-mile (32,000-kilometer) long coastline, and 1.8 million sq. miles (4.7 million square kilometers) of maritime area, China also has to safeguard its sovereignty, he said.
The hike in the defense budget is "affordable" and compatible with the country's economic growth, he told the conference.
"China's defense expenditure is at a low level" compared to some other developed countries, Ma said, without elaborating.
Only a third of this year's budget goes to armaments, with the rest for general maintenance expenses such as salaries and training, he said.
"China will always adopt a defensive defense policy. We do not engage in an arms race. We are a military threat to no other country. You shall never see hegemony or expansionism," Ma said.
The Chinese army is prepared to step up military exchanges with Asia-Pacific nations, as well as cooperate in areas such as counterterrorism and disaster relief, he said.
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