Asia must drop Cold War mentality - China

MANILA, Aug 2 (Reuters) East Asia must reconsider its concept of security and drop a ''Cold War mentality'' of competing for military superiority in favour of more trust and cooperation, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said today. Speaking at the region's largest security forum, Yang portrayed China as a stabilising force promoting peace and cooperation in Asia.

''Under the influence of the Cold War mentality, there is a trend towards building up bilateral military alliances to gain absolute military superiority,'' Yang said in speech at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum.

''This undermines political mutual trust, causes uncertainty to regional security and has become a source of concern to people.'' Yang did not mention Beijing's own aggressive military modernisation campaign, which has been under way for years and seen China develop advanced home-grown weapons systems and purchase a raft of others from abroad, including ships and warplanes.

China's military expansion, which has been enshrouded in secrecy, and to some extent its economic boom, have been sources of worry for many countries in the region.

Yang sought to allay those fears, saying China ''is actively involved in promoting peace, development, cooperation and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region.'' ''We have consistently acted in the spirit of setting aside differences to expand common ground and call for seeking peaceful and negotiated solutions to historical issues and current disputes of interests,'' he said.

China has worked hard since the early 1990s to radically transform its ties with Southeast Asia, where relations have at times been rocky and a handful of territorial disputes remain.

Economic links and security links have deepened, and once acrimonious disputes over borders, particularly oil- and gas-rich reef chains in the South China Sea, are now much less of a stumbling block -- in large part because the countries concerned, including China, have toned down their rhetoric.

Reuters PD DB1839