China must be transparent on naval build-up - U S

CANBERRA, Aug 15 (Reuters) China must be more transparent about its military intentions and naval build-up in the Asia-Pacific to ease strategic concerns, U S Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter said today during a visit to Australia.

''We continue to take a look at China and try to understand what the Chinese intent is,'' Winter told reporters in Canberra.

''The level of transparency comes up all the time and we're trying to understand not only what it is that they're doing, but why they are doing it.

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 its armed forces are geared for self-defence only.

China in March said it would boost defence spending by 17.8 percent to about 45 billion dollars this year, but a Pentagon report in May said Beijing's total military-related spending could more more than double that.

China's navy is rapidly modernising and transforming from a coastal force into a bluewater naval power with more than 20 new amphibious assault ships and nuclear-powered attack submarines.

A new type of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine equipped with sea-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles is currently undergoing sea trials.

Australia, a close U S ally, has regularly distanced itself from American concerns that China's military and economic rise was likely to stir regional conflict. But a recent Australian defence paper said China's build-up could create instability.

Two Chinese naval ships are to visit Sydney in September to hold a joint rescue exercise with Australia and New Zealand to boost military cooperation.

Winter said a new theatre defence missile under development by the United States and Japan, and which could be deployed on a new fleet of Australian navy destroyers, would boost regional stability.

''It is a defencive system, it is a defencive concept.

Hopefully it represents a stabilising construct,'' he said.

REUTERS AE HT0930