China weighs assertion and caution in U.S. shadow

[Ghost Dog]

Tue Jan 20, 2009 1:12pm GMT By Chris Buckley - Analysis

BEIJING (Reuters) - Barack Obama will inherit a raft of problems when he becomes U.S. president on Tuesday, but he won't have to worry about China itching to challenge America's global economic and political dominance.

The United States is in recession while China's economy recently became the world's third-largest. But the message from a debate brewing in Beijing is clear -- China must avoid both complacency and confrontation in handling Washington.

Two Beijing sources who demanded anonymity to discuss internal matters said President Hu Jintao privately told officials last year the United States may be beset by woes but remains the undisputed global "hegemon": a superpower whose overall economic, political and military might China would be reckless to challenge.

"Hu's message was that we can't take for granted that China will come through the financial crisis anywhere near to challenging the United States," said one of the sources, an editor, citing discussions with officials.

The other source was a state think-tank scholar, also citing a discussion with an official told of Hu's remarks.

Chinese warnings that the country must not court confrontation with the U.S. are not new.

But there is growing discussion in Beijing over how its foreign policy should respond to the economic turmoil, and such reminders appear intended to deter excessive ambitions, said Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

"I think this debate is probably also taking place in some form at high levels," said Glaser, who has followed the recent discussions. "The debate is about finding the right balance between caution and assertiveness."

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China to expand its military reach
Tuesday, January 20, 2009 13:53 Mecca time, 10:53 GMT

China has said it plans to step up the modernisation of its armed forces, expanding the military's global reach, but at the same time calling on the incoming US administration to improve military relations between the two countries.

A government policy report, released on Tuesday, said China's overall security situation had improved but that China's armed forces needed to improve to protect Chinese economic interests around the world.

Looking further to the future, the report said China needed to be prepared for conflicts brought about by increased competition for energy and food.

But the white paper also pointed to three major threats it said China faces now - from separatist movements in Tibet and Xinjiang; and from US arms sale to Taiwan, the self-ruled island which Beijing regards as Chinese territory.

It said the three issues "pose threats to China's unity and security".

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In a statement, Hu also called on the incoming US president, Barack Obama, to "improve and promote military-to-military relations".

"We call on the US to remove the obstacles to the growth of military relations between the two countries and to create favourable conditions for the healthy growth of military relations," he said.

/... http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/01/200912092726865304.html