China urged to be more open about military build-up
Financial Times
By Sundeep Tucker in Sydney
Updated: 7:42 a.m. ET March 16, 2006
Condoleezza Rice on Thursday underscored US concerns about the dramatic development of China, urging Beijing to open up its economy and be "transparent" about the reasons for its military build-up.
The US Secretary of State, who is on a three-day official visit to Australia, acknowledged that the US-China relationship faced some "difficult issues".
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Ms Rice said: "I heard that there is going to be a 14 per cent increase in the Chinese defence budget. That's a lot. China should undertake to be transparent about what their military build-up means."
She also called on China to have an open trading policy, citing concerns over intellectual property rights, the fixed currency and continued government ownership of large parts of the economy.
Ms Rice will on Friday meet John Howard, Australia prime minister, in Melbourne before returning to Sydney for trilateral security talks on Saturday with Alexander Downer and Taro Aso, her Australian and Japanese counterparts respectively.
Ms Rice said: "The growth of the Chinese economy, if done in a rules-based way in which China is fully obeying the rules of the global economy, is a positive development for international growth and for the US."
Mr Downer this week distanced Australia from Ms Rice's recent hawkish comments that China could become a "negative force" in the region.
Standing alongside her in Sydney on Thursday, Mr Downer said: "I think we feel comfortable with where the US is at in terms of its relationship with China. Our relationship with China has its own dynamics. We have our own issues."
Australia has been careful not to antagonise China, which it views as a huge economic opportunity. The countries are negotiating a free trade agreement and Canberra is poised to rubber-stamp the export of uranium to the mainland.
On another issue of possible contention, Ms Rice said that Australia – which is the world's second largest uranium exporter, could make its own mind up whether to sell the commodity to India.
The issue was brought into focus earlier this month when the US controversially agreed to sell nuclear fuel and technology to India, despite New Delhi's refusal to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT). Australia will not sell uranium to countries which have not signed the NPT and have rebuffed Indian demands for a change of policy.
Ms Rice said: "I think the issue of whether or not one agrees to participate in fuel supplies is a separate issue and is one for Australia to determine."
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