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[igotthisguitar]

U.S. Commander Meets China's Top General

BEIJING - The new commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific said he aims to build friendships in China, but added Saturday that the communist power's recent anti-satellite missile test appears to contradict its claim of a peaceful military rise.



Adm. Timothy Keating said he met with Gen. Guo Boxiong, China's top general, and Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei, in meetings aimed at developing and reinforcing "friendships".

But in his meeting with Guo, Keating said they exchanged views on Beijing's anti-satellite test in January, when a missile was used to destroy one of its own old weather satellites in low-Earth polar orbit. It was the first time China had successfully tested an anti-satellite system.

"An anti-satellite test is not necessarily a clear indication of a desire for peaceful utilization of space," Keating told reporters at a briefing. "It is a confusing signal shall we say for a country who desires, in China's words, a peaceful rise."

He said the U.S. was watching "with interest" as China developed its capabilities across the spectrum of military operations.

China's military, the world's largest, has been spending heavily on adding submarines, jet fighters and other high-tech weapons to its arsenal, causing "unease among its neighbors".

Its reported 2006 budget is $35.3 billion, but analysts believe the true figure is several times higher

Keating, who took up his position in March, said there were no immediate plans for joint exercises this year but hopes to continue to expand "cooperation" in that field.

Visits between the Chinese and American militaries dropped off after the collision of a U.S. spy plane with a Chinese fighter jet off China's coast in 2001. But relations have improved recently.

Last September, two Chinese navy ships stopped in Pearl Harbor in Hawaii � the first at a U.S. state in six years. After Pearl Harbor, the ships went to San Diego for the first part of a "search-and-rescue exercise" that ended in November off the island province of Hainan.

[cbclark4]

There are two remaining super powers.

One isa sleeping giant.

The other carries a big stick.

cbc

[igotthisguitar]

You think China is "sleeping"?