US hints at China role in missile defence shield
Washington yesterday offered Beijing possible involvement in its missile defence plans for East Asia in a bid to ease the mainland's concerns over joint Japan-US efforts.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said he was prepared to talk to his mainland counterparts about participation after making similar overtures to Russia in April.
'If the Chinese were to express an interest in it, we would certainly take an interest,' Dr Gates said. 'Just as with the Russians, we would be pleased to sit down with them and talk about the capabilities and technical characteristics of the system and its limitations.'
Dr Gates' comments came on the fringes of an informal gathering of regional defence officials and analysts in Singapore.
Beijing's lead delegate to the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, the PLA's General Staff deputy chief Lieutenant-General Zhang Qinsheng expressed concern over the plans for a ballistic-missile defence system and its possible coverage of Taiwan. 'China is quite concerned about the intention of the United States and Japan,' General Zhang said. 'We are worried this kind of deployment would destabilise Asia.
'If Japan and the United States deploy missile defence systems that cover Taiwan, China believes that any bilateral military co-operation should never target a third party.'
The need for such defences against North Korean attack was covered in a three-way private meeting on the fringes of the Singapore gathering, among Dr Gates and his Japanese and Australian counterparts.
Dr Gates said he did not understand why the Chinese were so worried. He said he wanted to stress that the system was aimed at defending against attacks from rogue states and terrorists rather than the large-scale threat posed by the likes of China and Russia. 'So anything we can do to provide transparency on that point, we are prepared to do it.'
His efforts to convince Russia with offers of involvement during a trip to Moscow in April failed to ease fears.
