Condi Warns China Could Become A "Negative Force" In The Asia-Pacific Region
US warns China could become negative force
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...2-3-2006_pg4_7
3/12/2006
SYDNEY: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has warned that China could become a “negative force” in the Asia-Pacific region and urged the US, Australia and Japan to form a common position on how to engage the Asian economic powerhouse, reports said Saturday.
Speaking to Australian journalists in Washington ahead of her visit to Sydney and Melbourne next week, Rice said that Beijing’s military and economic rise would be the focus of upcoming trilateral security discussions with Australia and Japan.
Rice said the region was undergoing tremendous flux and change, mostly because of the rise of China. “And I think all of us in the region, particularly those of us who are long-standing allies, have a joint responsibility and obligation to try and produce conditions in which the rise of China will be a positive force in international politics, not a negative force,” The Weekend Australian quoted Rice as saying.
She encouraged Australia and Japan to work towards a joint approach with the US. “We need together to recognise that China is going to improve its military but we need to make sure that this improvement is not out-sized for China’s regional ambitions and interests,” Rice said, according a report by The Sydney Morning Herald. “That is concerning, particularly for those of us that had a responsibility for defending the peace in the Asia-Pacific region of which I would count all three countries.”
Rice’s comments are seemingly at odds with those of Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, with whom she will hold two days of bilateral talks from Thursday, who has previously said the meetings would be not be aimed at developing a China containment policy.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso will join the pair on Saturday for the tri-nation dialogue expected to focus on Iraq, Iran and Northeast Asian security issues. It will be the first time the dialogue has been held at the ministerial level.
Rice said energy would also be discussed at the meetings “because the need for energy is driving diplomatic policy/foreign policy in ways I would never have dreamed of four or five years ago.”
The secretary of state, who has twice cancelled her visit to Australia which was first due to take place in November, said while the “jury was still out” on democratic reform in China, the Communist state’s booming economy provided many opportunities.
“That’s why it is a challenge, but it’s an opportunity because when you have a billion-plus people who are as active and dynamic as Chinese people and an economy that has the potential to be a real driver of economic growth in the international system, that’s an opportunity,” Rice said.
