2010-08-18 06:38

BEIJING - A Pentagon report on China's "secretive" drive to transform itself into a major military power, was brushed aside by Chinese experts on Monday as "unprofessional", guilty of ambiguity and inconsistencies.

"China has been doing its best to improve its military transparency, and it will continue to do so. But the decision will only be made by China itself, taking into account its national security," said Shi Yinhong, a senior scholar on international relations at Renmin University of China.

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In recent years the People's Liberation Army has issued its own reports on its makeup and mission and has also engaged with the armed forces of other nations through port visits, peacekeeping missions, and joint drills. Diplomats say they hope that these will help calm fears over the motivation behind China's military buildup.

But Shi said the People's Liberation Army will continue to adhere to a different standard of transparency.

"It's currently impossible for China to reach the level that the US demands," he said. "Anyone who understands basic international politics knows there is no absolute transparency, especially between non-allies."

The report, though admitting that the Chinese military made "modest improvements in the transparency of China's military and security affairs" in 2009, says "the limited transparency enhances uncertainty and increases the potential for misunderstanding and miscalculation".

There was no immediate comment from China's Ministry of National Defense or the Foreign Ministry.

Ni Feng, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the report was more about the Pentagon's feelings rather than the actual facts.

"Many of those who drafted the report are civil officials in the Department of Defense, and are mostly hawkish. Few of them are China experts," he said. "The report is not exactly professional. It uses ambiguous terms without solid proof."

The report, which the Pentagon delayed for five months, was compiled before Beijing cut its US military contacts with Washington for a multi-billion US arms deal with Taiwan in January.

Pang Zhongying, a scholar on world politics also at Renmin University of China, pointed to inconsistencies in the report. He attributed them to the fact that the US military policy on China is not unitary.

Dean Cheng, research fellow for Chinese political and security affairs with the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, said the surprising point of the 83-page report was how little of its content was actually surprising.

It seems the question in that context has transferred from "what will China do" to "what will the US do", he said.

The report's release comes amid deep dissatisfaction in Beijing over US-South Korea joint naval drills in the Yellow Sea. China was also upset by statements last month by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton seen as unwelcome interference in the territorial dispute between China and Southeast Asia nations over the South China Sea.

The Pentagon report said China was developing a ballistic missile capable of attacking aircraft carriers more than 1,500 kilometers away. It did not indicate how close Beijing was to mastering the technology involved.

But Zhu Feng of Peking University's School of International Studies, played down any immediate confrontation.

"The Pentagon is fully aware that there's a huge gap between the two countries' military power. It is a joke to claim that China is going to attack American aircraft carriers," Zhu said.

The report also said China could start construction of its first aircraft carrier by the end of the year and had begun a program to train 50 pilots to operate fixed-wing aircraft from an aircraft carrier.

Regarding Taiwan, the report said the balance of forces was continuing to shift in Beijing's favor.

"The PLA is developing the capability to deter Taiwan independence or influence Taiwan to settle the dispute on Beijing's terms while simultaneously attempting to deter, delay, or deny any possible US support for the island in case of conflict," the report said.

Taiwan's "defense ministry" responded with a renewed call for the US to sell the island F-16 C/D fighter jets and diesel submarines, two systems which have been at the top of its military wish list for most of this decade.

The Associated Press and Tan Yingzi in Washington contributed to this story.