US urged to restrain Japan(2)

Observers said growing cooperation mixed with harsh criticism reflects the current condition of China and US military ties.

Zhao Xiaozhuo, deputy director of the center on China-US defense relations at the PLA Academy of Military Science, said Washington is stuck in a security dilemma in the Asia-Pacific region since it is pursuing balance between China and Japan.from page 1

"For example, the US perceives the security alliance with Japan and other Asian countries as the cornerstone of its rebalancing strategy, but China sees it as a barrier for development," Zhao said.

"As the two countries seek to build a new type of military relations focusing on common interests, the strategic suspicion and the latent contradictions will become more acute," he said.

Zhu Chenghu, dean of the Defense Affairs Institute at the National Defense University of the People's Liberation Army, said military-to-military ties between Beijing and Washington lag far behind the development of other aspects of bilateral relations, but both countries have shown sincerity to expand cooperation.

"Hagel's criticism of China to pacify US allies is one thing, whether the US will take action to sabotage the burgeoning China-US cooperation is another thing," Zhu said.

On his first visit to China as a US defense chief, Hagel reaffirmed that the US welcomed the rise of a stable, peaceful and prosperous China.

Hagel said China-US relations are essential to peace and prosperity in this century and his focus is on how to develop the new model of military-to-military relations.

"My tour to the aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, yesterday was a good beginning because it represented an effort that we are both striving to do more on, which is the openness and transparency," he said.

On Monday, Hagel became the first foreign visitor to board the aircraft carrier in Qingdao, Shandong province. He is also scheduled to visit a non-commissioned officers school in a Beijing suburb on Wednesday.

"Our vision is a future where our militaries can work closely together on a range of challenges, such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions. However, to reach this objective, we must be candid about issues where we disagree," Hagel said.

Both defense chiefs agreed that international terrorism was a common challenge to peace and stability, and they agreed greater cooperation was the way forward.

Days before his trip to China, Hagel reaffirmed Washington's military treaty commitments to Japan and promised to send two more ballistic missile defense destroyers to the country by 2017.

In an interview with Japan's Nikkei newspaper on Saturday, Hagel criticized China's Air Defense Identification Zone over the East China Sea as provocative and unilateral.

On Tuesday afternoon, Fan Changlong, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, criticized Hagel's remarks as "tough, and with a clear attitude".

"I can tell you, frankly, ... the Chinese people, including myself, are dissatisfied with such remarks," Fan told Hagel at the presence of the press.