Rumsfeld holds candid talks with China defense chief
(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2005-10-19 16:50

General Cao said it would be "simply impossible" to increase the budget on the scale cited by the Pentagon because China is focusing its resources on fighting domestic poverty.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (R) speaks at the start of a meeting with Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan at the Defense Ministry's Bayi Building in Beijing October 19, 2005. [Reuters]

"It is not necessary and not possible, actually, for us to massively increase the defense budget," Cao said. He defended the accuracy of China's report that its 2005 defense budget is about $29 billion, compared with the $90 billion the Pentagon claims.

Even calculating it at a more recent exchange rate (following the July 21 revaluation), the budget comes to $30.2 billion, Cao said.

"That is, indeed, the true budget we have today," he said.. Cao told reporters that "some funding for the development of equipment" is excluded from the published budget, such as China’s space launch program.

On his first visit to China as defense secretary, Rumsfeld delivered an address to the Central Party School and fielded questions from several students and faculty members.

When one professor told Rumsfeld that China hears "different voices," or conflicting messages, from U.S. officials, Rumsfeld replied, "I hadn't noticed that." He went on to say that it is China, not the United States, that has sent conflicting signals about its future intentions.

"So we see mixed signals and we seek clarification," Rumsfeld said.

"While there is no one model that is perfect for every nation at every time in its development, a look across the globe suggests that societies that tend to encourage more open markets and freer systems are societies where the people are enjoying the greatest opportunities," Rumsfeld said at the Central Party School.