China says US remarks on its military irresponsible

BEIJING, June 14 (Reuters) China denounced US comments on its defence spending as ''irresponsible'' today and defended its military budget, saying it was open and transparent.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang also called on the United States to stop selling weapons to Taiwan, the self-ruled island China considers its own, and to refrain from ''sending any wrong signals to Taiwan secessionist forces''.

''China sticks to the role of peaceful development,'' Qin told a news conference.

''On the military expenditure of China, we are transparent and open. The US official's remarks disregard the facts and spread the China threat theory,'' Qin said.

Yesterday, Richard Lawless, the US deputy undersecretary for defence for Asia, was reported to have accused China of concealing its spending on its weapons programmes.

''What we see is a deliberate effort on the part of China's leaders to mask the nature of Chinese military capabilities,'' Lawless told the US House Armed Services Committee.

China and the United States have long sparred over the nature of China's military development, with Washington saying it is trying to project its growing power and Beijing maintaining that its armed forces are geared toward self-defence only.

In March, China said it would boost defence spending by 17.8 per cent to about 45 billion dollars this year, but a Pentagon report last month said its total military-related spending could more more than double that.

Washington is also concerned that a military build-up in China could alter the balance of power in the Asia-Pacific region and stoke conflict with Taiwan.

China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. Beijing has vowed to bring the island back under mainland rule, by force if necessary.

The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, recognising ''one China'', but it is obliged by the Taiwan Relations Act to help the island defend itself.

REUTERS SV VV1551