5 June, 2012 China's top newspapers warned on Tuesday that the United States' plans to bolster its naval presence in the Asia-Pacific region threaten to widen rifts between the two big powers.
The warnings came in the People's Daily - the main newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party - and Liberation Army Daily - the main paper of the nation's military, and amplified milder comments from the Foreign Ministry on Monday.
Echoing reassurances from other Obama administration officials, Panetta said the plan was not aimed at containing China, whose fast-modernizing navy has kindled worries among neighbors. But the People's Daily did not buy that.
"The United States verbally denies it is containing China's rise, but while establishing a new security array across the Asia-Pacific, it has invariably made China its target," said a commentary in the paper, which reflects currents of official thinking in Beijing.
The People's Daily commentary was blunter than the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin, who responded to Panetta's announcement by saying China hopes the United States will respect its regional interests, and by calling the Pentagon's steps "out of keeping with the times."
Beijing appears keen to avoid outright confrontation with the U.S., but the comments in state newspapers reflected persistent worries among many in China that Washington is bent on frustrating its emergence as a major power.
"After this new (U.S.) military deployment and adjustment is completed, the intensity of U.S. meddling in Asia-Pacific affairs will surely increase," the Liberation Army Daily quoted a People's Liberation Army researcher as saying.
"This trend will increase people's fears about the United States using its military dominance to interfere in the sovereignty of the region's countries," said the researcher, Han Xudong, a professor at China's National Defence University. TVNZ
HIGHLIGHTS
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta landed in New Delhi on Tuesday for talks focusing on Washington’s strategic shift towards Asia and discuss China's growing assertiveness, especially in the contentious South China Sea. Raw Story
Leon Panetta announced on Saturday during a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a security conference in Singapore, that the U.S. military would rebalance its military assets so that by the year 2020, 60% of U.S. warships would be in the region, versus 50% now. Reuters
In January, U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled a defense strategy to strengthen the country's military presence in the Asia-Pacific region despite fiscal constraints. Obama said the U.S. will be "strengthening its presence in the Asia-Pacific and budget reductions will not come at the expense of this critical region." China.org
0 comments:
Post a Comment