[Infowarrior] - China plans military hotline with US

[Richard Forno]

Who says the Cold War ended?  And, I hope they don't use VOIP here......-rf

China plans military hotline with US
(Reuters/Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-06-03 08:44

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-06/03/content_885935.htm

SINGAPORE - China and the United States plan to set up a defense hotline,
one of Beijing's top generals said on Saturday, a move aimed at improving
bilateral military relations.

Zhang Qinsheng, deputy chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation
Army, made the remarks while speaking at the plenary session of the
three-day security summit, also known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, after the
name of the Singapore hotel at which the event has been held since its
launch in 2002.

He said the issue of a hotline between the Chinese military and the US
Defense Department would be settled when he visited the United States in
September.

"We will finalize the establishment of the hotline," said Major General
Zhang, speaking through an interpreter at an Asian security conference in
Singapore.

"We are prepared that in September this year during the ninth Sino-US
defense talks, we are going to settle the issue."

Zhang also told the Summit that China's defense budget is true and
authentic.

As the level of Chinese military modernization gradually rises, some raise
the question of "military transparency", and voice their suspicion over
China's defense budget, so it is necessary to briefly clarify the matter,
Zhang said.

"In China, defense budgeting must follow a set of highly strict legal
procedures, and the published Chinese defense budget is true and authentic,"
he said.

He added that the increased proportion of the defense budget is mostly used
to make up the retail price rise, improve welfare of the military personnel,
and for better logistic support.

"Given the multiple security threats, geo-political environment, the size of
the territory, and the per-capita expense, the Chinese defense expenditure
is small by all judgments," he added.

Regarding "military transparency", Zhang noted that due to differences in
history, culture, social system and ideology, countries naturally disagree
on what "transparency" means and how to achieve it.

"The rise of a country's military power is a dynamic process full of
changeable factors. It is difficult to be evaluated precisely," he said,
adding that "Therefore, it takes time to achieve transparency."

He stressed that "China is gradually making progress in military
transparency, in light of the principles of trust, responsibility, security
and equality."

The annual Shangri-La Dialogue, organized by the London-based International
Institute for Strategic Studies, opened on Friday. It gathered defense
ministers and top officials from 26 countries and regions in the
Asia-Pacific region and Europe to address major regional security issues and
defense cooperation.