The United States said Monday it was "troubling" that China's weapons systems capability exceeded the level Beijing defined as necessary for self-defense.
The head of the US armed forces in the Asia-Pacific, Admiral Timothy Keating, said he was told by Chinese leaders during a visit to Beijing that its so-called "area denial weapons" were "to protect those things that are ours."
But he said, "we find it troubling that the capabilities of some of these weapons systems would tend to exceed our own expectations for protecting those things that are 'ours.'"
Keating said the United States had "intelligence that reinforces my opinion that China is developing, fielding and has in place weapons that could be characterised as having, amongst perhaps other purposes, an ability to restrict movement in and around certain areas on the sea, in the air or under the sea.
"I'll go back to the point we made a couple of times already - that we understood PRC (China's) intentions, not just their transparency, not just the fact that these weapons exist. We know they exist," he said.
"It's why are they being fielded," Keating asked, speaking at a Washington forum of the US-based Asia Society. The Pentagon fears China's area-denial arms, including missiles, can be used to attack US aircraft carriers and ships, reports have said. "The PLA (China's People's Liberation Army) appears engaged in a sustained effort to develop the capability to interdict, at long ranges, aircraft carrier and expeditionary strike groups that might deploy to the western Pacific," according to the annual Pentagon report last year to the US Congress.
"Increasingly, China's area denial/anti-access forces overlap, providing multiple layers of offensive systems, utilising the sea, air, and space," the report said.
The United States fears a Chinese military build-up could blunt any US intervention in a conflict over Taiwan and challenge US naval access to the Asian region. A year ago, China used a ballistic missile to destroy a Chinese weather satellite in low Earth orbit, causing worries in Washington that Beijing could disrupt US military satellites in a regional conflict.
In addition, a Chinese submarine approached a US aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean and surfaced within firing range of its torpedoes and missiles before being detected. To a question by a Chinese diplomat at the forum, Keating said he did not think the two countries should set a special criteria for military transparency but sought what he called an "inter-agency approach" to facing challenges.
Keating, who just returned from his second visit to China, said that they should also increase dialogue, have better communication and develop "bonds of trust and understanding" to avoid potential conflicts. "I think we will proceed on a path that will reduce tensions and reduce the likelihood of misunderstanding leading to crisis, leading to conflict," he said.
Keating also expressed relief that a November row with Beijing over the port visits of US ships appeared to have been resolved. An American warship USS Blue Ridge was allowed Monday to dock in Hong Kong, in the first visit by a US vessel since the USS Kitty Hawk was denied entry in the Chinese administered territory about two months ago. Two US minesweepers were also refused permission to shelter in Hong Kong from a brewing tropical storm.
"The sense I got is that they didn't want to be confrontational," Keating told reporters. "I am not as concerned today as I was before ... We think we are developing a better understanding of them."
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