U S seeks Afghan help from Asia, trust with China

SINGAPORE, June 2 (Reuters) US Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged Asian nations today to give more aid to Afghanistan and boost regional cooperation in tackling terrorism, but played down American concerns over China's military build-up.

The Pentagon chief, addressing an Asian security conference in Singapore, also warned that nuclear programmes in Iran and North Korea posed as much of a threat to Asia as they did to Europe, and that chaos in Iraq would embolden extremists everywhere.

''The effect of chaos in either Central or Southwest Asia will not recognise national, continental or regional boundaries,'' he told Asian counterparts at the conference organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

Gates' message to Asian nations about cooperation and burden-sharing was similar in substance to comments delivered to European partners earlier this year.

But it marked a dramatic shift in tone for the Pentagon, which under Gates' predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, used the event to confront China and criticise Beijing for a lack of transparency on its military build-up.

Gates, in fact, made few references to China.

He said Washington was worried about the ''opaqueness'' of Beijing's military spending and modernisation programmes. He noted that the Pentagon's recently released annual report on China's military power highlighted the areas of military enlargement and weapons development Beijing was pursuing.

While cautioning that ''distrust and secrecy can lead to miscalculation and unnecessary confrontation'', Gates said the United States and China shared interests in areas such as terrorism and energy security, adding: ''As we gain experience in dealing with each other, relationships can be forged that will build trust over time.'' MILITARY HOTLINE In a sign that Sino-American military relations are improving, one of Beijing's top generals told delegates that the two powers were preparing to set up a defence hotline, something Washington has sought for years.

Zhang Qinsheng, deputy chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army, said the issue of a hotline between the Chinese military and the US Defense Department would be settled when he visited the United States in September.

Zhang, who was questioned by several delegates - including former US defense secretary William Cohen - over Beijing's military transparency, stressed China's policy of self-defence.

He said that China's increased military spending was justified, adding that the increase was to cover higher salaries and pensions, new uniforms, new military schools, and logistics.

''The published Chinese defence budget is true and authentic,'' Zhang said, according to the translation of his speech, adding that the increase portion of the defence budget ''is mostly used to make up the retail price rise, improve welfare of the military personnel, and for better logistic support''.

Beijing said in March it would boost defence spending by 17.8 percent to about 45 billion dollar in 2007. But Pentagon and US intelligence officials say China's total real military-related spending for 2007 could be between 85 billion dollars and 125 billion dollars.

Gates pressed Asian nations to provide more assistance to Afghanistan and other Central Asian states.

Just as he urged European allies in February to provide more aid in that war zone, Gates said on Saturday that Asian states should help Afghanistan with governance, reconstruction and counter-narcotics programmes.

He said some Asian states could send more military trainers, adding: ''The entire region is susceptible to the rise of extremist movements so the rest of Asia has a large stake in making sure Central Asian nations are equipped to deal with this threat.'' REUTERS SZ KP1215