SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China, which has boosted defence spending at double-digit rates for a decade, should show greater transparency on military strategy to avoid potential misunderstandings, a senior U.S. official said on Saturday.
In talks that ended on Friday, just days before Beijing isdue to announce its 2008 military budget, U.S. officialsstressed a need for greater mutual trust, said David Sedney,the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defence for East Asia.
"What we're trying to achieve with the Chinese when we talkabout transparency is greater mutual understanding of strategicintent, greater mutual understanding of how the specificcapabilities the Chinese are acquiring are tied to Chinesestrategic objectives," Sedney told reporters.
Several countries, including Japan, have expressed concernabout China's military build-up. It's military budget rose 17.8percent last year to $45 billion (22.6 billion pounds),although this was still only a fraction of U.S. militaryspending.
China focuses many of its navy ships, missiles and militaryaircraft on Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing views as partof its own territory and says must accept eventual unification.
"We made the point that what we're seeking to do is to havea normal level of mutual trust and understanding that will alsobe helpful in avoiding miscalculations and misunderstanding,"Sedney said.
Sino-U.S. military relations have improved in recent years,after they were severely strained over a collision between aChinese fighter jet and a U.S. spy plane in 2001.
Last week's talks brought formal agreement on along-planned hotline linking the two countries' militaries toimprove communications.
(Reporting by Edmund Klamann)
