US, Japan and Australia to tackle rise of China

SYDNEY, Mar 16 The United States has made the economic and military rise of China the focus of top-level security talks with Australia and Japan on Saturday, but Canberra has assured Beijing it is not a bid to contain the Asian giant.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who will meet Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso in Sydney, wants to be sure China's military build-up does not ''outsize'' its regional ambitions and interests.

But Downer has been a little more restrained, describing the meeting as an opportunity to discuss harnessing the growing power of China to the advantage of the region and managing its rise so that Beijing can play a positive international role.

''(The security talks) shouldn't be construed by China as a policy of containment of China or in any sense hostile towards China. There are plenty of issues for us to talk about other than China,'' Downer told Australia's Sky News.

''I think a policy of containment of China would be a very big mistake,'' he said.

Japan, whose ties with China have been strained over a range of disputes mainly stemming from Japan's occupation of much of China between 1931 and 1945, has been guarded over what issues it plans to discuss at the security talks in Sydney.

''As for the question of China, it's likely to come up as part of a discussion about broader regional issues. As an individual topic, though, there are many more pressing things to talk about,'' a Japanese Foreign Ministry official told Reuters.

NEW ASIA AUTHOR

Rice, who arrived in Australia late on Wednesday, has said she wants to be sure a build-up of China's 2.3 million-strong People's Liberation Army, which is the world's largest standing military force, does not outpace the country's growth.

''I think that's something that is concerning, particularly for those of us who have had a responsibility for defending peace in the Asia Pacific region, of which I would count all three,'' Rice told reporters.

But some analysts say the security talks are a bid by the United States to reassert itself in Asia after ignoring the region while it has concentrated on hunting down the terror network al Qaeda after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

''In the sense of who writes the strategic script for East Asia, that has been the United States for 50 years, and there's a strong sense now that a new author is appearing,'' Australian National University security analyst Ron Huisken said.

''It's not so much China's doing, it's where the rest of us are projecting where China's going to be in a couple of decades and we're giving them a lot of kudos ahead of the numbers. When asked to comment on the security talks, China -- which has said its official defence budget will rise 14.7 percent to 283.8 billion yuan ( billion) in 2006 -- stressed that it was committed to a path of peaceful development.

''China will be a firm force in maintaining peace and stability of the region and promoting common development,'' Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters.

''CHINA BASHING''

Some analysts said the focus of the security talks on China could unbalance Canberra's carefully poised ties with its three largest trading partners. The talks are the first to be held at ministerial level after many years of talks between officials.

''The problem is going to be steering a way through that's not going to get Australia caught out when we have got (Chinese Premier) Wen Jiabao coming at the end of the month,'' Australian National University security analyst Clive Williams said.

Australia has long struggled to balance its close alliance with the United States with its geographical location.

''The United States is into China bashing in a big way at the moment and I think that's really not something that we need at the moment ... It means that the Chinese premier is going to be coming perhaps in a fairly poisoned atmosphere,'' Williams said.

But, as Australia and Japan have maintained, there are many other topics to talk about, which analysts said could include the Proliferation Security Initiative -- designed to intercept the transport of weapons of mass destruction -- and North Korea.

''Given the three countries taking part in these talks, I think Iraq is an inevitable subject,'' independent Japanese diplomatic commentator Tetsuya Ozeki said, adding that Iran's nuclear ambitions were likely to be discussed as well.

Australia was one of the first countries to commit to the US-led invasion of Iraq, while Japan sent troops in a non-combat role to help with the post-war reconstruction.

''I don't believe anything concrete will come out of these talks. But given the increasingly complicated diplomatic picture these days, just meeting to discuss the issues is important,'' Ozeki said.

REUTERS