US 'spends too much on military'
Source: Agencies |
July 12, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
The United States is spending too much on its military in light of its recent economic troubles, China's top general said yesterday.
Chen Bingde, chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army, told reporters he thought the US should cut back on defense spending for the sake of its taxpayers. He was speaking during a joint news conference in which he traded barbs with his US counterpart Admiral Mike Mullen.
"I know the US is still recovering from the financial crisis," Chen said. "Under such circumstances, it is still spending a lot of money on its military and isn't that placing too much pressure on the taxpayers?
"If the US could reduce its military spending a bit and spend more on improving the livelihood of the American people ... wouldn't that be a better scenario?" he said.
The visit by Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is the first of its kind in four years. Mullen and Chen are trying to upgrade military-to-military ties after setbacks over US arms sales to Taiwan.
Chen made a similar trip to the US in May as part of efforts to improve often frosty relations between the militaries, especially as the economies of the countries become more codependent.
The two sides announced future exchanges, with the commander of one of China's seven military regions visiting the headquarters of the US Pacific Command in Hawaii later this year, followed by a return visit by the head of the Pacific Command.
Mullen acknowledged tough challenges to improving military ties and called for more communication as well as "clearer and more pragmatic expectations."
"We need to continue to work toward an understanding as these differences continue to be out there," Mullen said. "That's why it's so important that we have a robust military-to-military relationship."
Chen said China was more than two decades behind the US in terms of military technology and the country needed to upgrade by adding new hardware such as aircraft carriers.
"China is a big country, and we have quite a number of ships, but these are only small ships and this is not commensurate with the status of a country like China," he said. "Of course, I hope that in future we will have aircraft carriers."
Training vessel
Chen said a former Soviet-era aircraft carrier that China bought in 1998 was "a valuable thing" for China.
The still-unnamed ship is expected to primarily be a training vessel for the Navy and for naval pilots, while China moves swiftly to build its own carriers.
Chen said he and Mullen had discussed China's development of a new missile system, the Dong Fang 21D.
Chen said the system, "not operational yet," was intended for defense purposes only.
The general also criticized the US for its military drills in contested waters of the South China Sea, a dispute Beijing has warned Washington not to get involved in.
Chen said that if the US really wanted peace in the South China Sea, then the timing of its recent military exercises in the region was poor.
"The US has said many times that it does not intend to get involved in the South China Sea dispute, but ... is actually sending out the opposite signal," Chen said.
"Despite having conducted them in the past, holding these military drills at this moment is extremely inappropriate," Chen said.
Navies from the US and the Philippines recently finished an 11-day military exercise near the South China Sea. The US and Vietnam are scheduled to hold joint naval drills in the region from Friday.
Mullen reiterated earlier pledges that the US would maintain its long-standing military presence in Asia and defended the drills as in line with international law. "These flights, these operations, these exercises are all conducted in accordance with international norms, and essentially we will continue to comply with that in the future," Mullen said.
Chen said that he hopes the US military presence in the South China Sea will help to bring stability to the region. He acknowledged that the US presence was "already a fact" and would continue because of US interests in the area.
"We want to know how many US military forces will be deployed in this area and what they will do with their presence," Chen said.
He said there was no issue pertaining to the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, and the US should not concern itself with it.
Chen Bingde, chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army, told reporters he thought the US should cut back on defense spending for the sake of its taxpayers. He was speaking during a joint news conference in which he traded barbs with his US counterpart Admiral Mike Mullen.
"I know the US is still recovering from the financial crisis," Chen said. "Under such circumstances, it is still spending a lot of money on its military and isn't that placing too much pressure on the taxpayers?
"If the US could reduce its military spending a bit and spend more on improving the livelihood of the American people ... wouldn't that be a better scenario?" he said.
The visit by Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is the first of its kind in four years. Mullen and Chen are trying to upgrade military-to-military ties after setbacks over US arms sales to Taiwan.
Chen made a similar trip to the US in May as part of efforts to improve often frosty relations between the militaries, especially as the economies of the countries become more codependent.
The two sides announced future exchanges, with the commander of one of China's seven military regions visiting the headquarters of the US Pacific Command in Hawaii later this year, followed by a return visit by the head of the Pacific Command.
Mullen acknowledged tough challenges to improving military ties and called for more communication as well as "clearer and more pragmatic expectations."
"We need to continue to work toward an understanding as these differences continue to be out there," Mullen said. "That's why it's so important that we have a robust military-to-military relationship."
Chen said China was more than two decades behind the US in terms of military technology and the country needed to upgrade by adding new hardware such as aircraft carriers.
"China is a big country, and we have quite a number of ships, but these are only small ships and this is not commensurate with the status of a country like China," he said. "Of course, I hope that in future we will have aircraft carriers."
Training vessel
Chen said a former Soviet-era aircraft carrier that China bought in 1998 was "a valuable thing" for China.
The still-unnamed ship is expected to primarily be a training vessel for the Navy and for naval pilots, while China moves swiftly to build its own carriers.
Chen said he and Mullen had discussed China's development of a new missile system, the Dong Fang 21D.
Chen said the system, "not operational yet," was intended for defense purposes only.
The general also criticized the US for its military drills in contested waters of the South China Sea, a dispute Beijing has warned Washington not to get involved in.
Chen said that if the US really wanted peace in the South China Sea, then the timing of its recent military exercises in the region was poor.
"The US has said many times that it does not intend to get involved in the South China Sea dispute, but ... is actually sending out the opposite signal," Chen said.
"Despite having conducted them in the past, holding these military drills at this moment is extremely inappropriate," Chen said.
Navies from the US and the Philippines recently finished an 11-day military exercise near the South China Sea. The US and Vietnam are scheduled to hold joint naval drills in the region from Friday.
Mullen reiterated earlier pledges that the US would maintain its long-standing military presence in Asia and defended the drills as in line with international law. "These flights, these operations, these exercises are all conducted in accordance with international norms, and essentially we will continue to comply with that in the future," Mullen said.
Chen said that he hopes the US military presence in the South China Sea will help to bring stability to the region. He acknowledged that the US presence was "already a fact" and would continue because of US interests in the area.
"We want to know how many US military forces will be deployed in this area and what they will do with their presence," Chen said.
He said there was no issue pertaining to the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, and the US should not concern itself with it.
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