China no threat to anyone
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Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie said in Hanoi Tuesday non-traditional security issues pose grave challenges to regional security and China's defense development is not aimed at challenging or threatening anyone.
China's defense development aims to ensure its own security and promote international and regional peace and stability, Liang said in a speech at the 1st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADAMM-Plus).
"China pursues a defense policy that is defensive in nature," he told the gathering which opened in the Vietnamese capital earlier in the day.
Liang said the security situation in the Asia-Pacific remains generally stable but the region is still confronted with many traditional and non-traditional security challenges, like tsunami, earthquake, typhoon and flood.
Non-traditional security issues pose grave challenges to regional security, economic growth and people's livelihood, said Liang, adding that non-traditional security threats are usually transnational and unpredictable, and require a joint response.
Liang proposed at the meeting that countries in the region should strengthen non-traditional security cooperation to address practical issues in regional security.
Liang said China supports the ADMM-Plus in focusing on non-traditional security cooperation and giving priority to tackling non-traditional security challenges which directly threaten the lives and well-being of the people in the Asia-Pacific.
Liang made three proposals at the meeting on strengthening security dialogue and cooperation to enhance regional stability and prosperity.
He said countries in the region should promote mutual understanding and trust to consolidate the political foundation for regional security cooperation.
He urged countries in the region to establish a reasonable security mechanism and cement the platform for regional security cooperation.
Liang also called on them to press ahead with practical cooperation in a steady manner and keep regional security cooperation on the right track.
The establishment of the ADMM-Plus provides a new platform for ASEAN and its dialogue partners to strengthen security and defense cooperation, and promote regional peace and stability, he said.
China is positive and open to regional security cooperation and supports ASEAN centrality in the newly inaugurated ADMM-Plus mechanism, he added.
The 1st ADMM-Plus drew officials from 10 ASEAN members -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- and their eight dialogue partners -- Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the United States.
The meeting, with the theme of "Strategic Cooperation for Peace, Stability and Development in the Region," aims to demonstrate the political will of participating countries.
Participants at the one-day event are expected to hold discussions on five prioritized cooperation areas -- humanitarian aid and disaster relief, military medicine, maritime security, counter-terrorism, and peace-keeping operations.
A joint declaration is expected to be issued later Tuesday at the end of the meeting.
During his stay in Hanoi, Liang had a tete-a-tete with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday and invited him to visit China early next year.
Guan Youfei, a Chinese Defense Ministry official, confirmed that Gates had accepted the invitation.
The brief encounter showed that both China and the U.S. attach great importance to developing their military ties, and was helpful to enhance mutual understanding and trust, Guan told reporters Monday.
The meeting was the first between the two countries' defense chiefs since bilateral military ties soured in January following Pentagon's decision to sell 6.4 billion dollars worth of arms to China's Taiwan province.
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