Pentagon Report on China’s Military Breeds Suspicion where Trust is Needed

  2011/9/13 source：

The U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, Michael Schiffer, suggested at a Pentagon briefing on August 24 that its latest annual report on China’s military and security development should be viewed as the set of questions and issues the United States would like to discuss with China. This probably is the only premise, from a Chinese perspective, that the U.S. can use to persuade China to positively look at the report, “Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2011”. But even that is questionable because there are many opportunities for the two countries to exchange views, to raise questions and even to voice disagreements.  

In fact, the real problem between the two countries, and their militaries, is not that they don’t know the other’s worries or concerns. It’s that they actually lack a shared trust. They don’t believe what the other side says. In this regard, the Pentagon’s dossier cannot provide any help. On the contrary, its interpretation of China’s military and strategic intentions is subjective and based on incomplete data. As such it will further add to China’s suspicions about the U.S.’s motive in publishing the report and have a negative bearing on building trust. 

Each year it is published, the report disturbs the China-U.S. relationship. The Chinese side thinks that the U.S. should dispense with such a Cold War-style measure, but it seems this is a difficult expectation because the U.S. is using the report to achieve other political and strategic outcomes. For example, China’s military development and modernization is a good reason for the U.S. military to ask Congress to maintain, or even increase, its budget. In another sense, the U.S. can also use the report to shape world public opinion and to influence policy options in China’s neighboring countries. Thus, the strategic importance of the China-U.S. relationship is still largely on paper, because the U.S. continues to use the China card to leverage other interests. The annual report reminds us again that the relationship still has many uncertainties and we had better always prepare for that.