U.S. Relations With the People's Republic of China (2007)

U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)

News Transcript

Presenter: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James Cartwright

December 21, 2007 11:00 AM EST

DoD News Briefing with Secretary Gates and Gen. Cartwright From the Pentagon

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Q: I'd like to turn our focus to Asia for a moment, if I could. You had a very successful visit to China some weeks ago. Yet afterwards, a matter of days, they cancelled a visit of the Kitty Hawk and denied safe harbor to two ships, American minesweepers in a storm.

Have you yet gotten sufficient explanation to your satisfaction, even an apology? As you look at the Chinese military buildup and these actions, where do you put China on the continuum of friend, ally, challenger, competitor, or even adversary?

SEC. GATES: Well, first of all, I think that I have read that the Chinese believe that I should have told them that we were going to continue our arms sales to Taiwan, some sales that apparently were announced a few days after I returned. The fact is, in the middle of -- in those conversations, they raised at various levels our arms sales to Taiwan, and I was very explicit that our arms sales were consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act and the joint statement, and that as long as they continued to build up their forces on their side of the Taiwan Strait, we would continue to give Taiwan the resources necessary to defend itself. So I think that to a certain extent, I find that argument a little specious.

What has been interesting to me this year is that I think we have had two situations in which there appears to have been a disconnect within the Chinese government. The first was the ASAT test, where the foreign ministry didn't seem to understand or know what had happened and there was -- appeared to be some confusion. We seem to have had a little bit of the same thing with the Kitty Hawk, where the military may have made a decision that was not communicated to the political side of the government. Now, I don't know that for a fact, but there's just some hint of that.

So, I'm not quite sure what to make of the Kitty Hawk thing. I will tell you that we were pretty annoyed by it. We were pretty annoyed by the fact that the two smaller ships that were actually seeking shelter were denied that shelter.

But I still think that -- and China, no question China is continuing its military modernization programs. That said, I don't consider China an enemy, and I think there are opportunities for continued cooperation in a number of areas. And I still would like to see -- I still think it's important for us to develop the strategic dialogue with China where we sit down and talk about how we see the threat, how each of us perceives the threat and the purpose behind our modernization programs and so on.

I still think there is value in that, and my hope is that we can continue it.

Q: May I have a follow-up?

SEC. GATES: Yes.

Q: This March, Taiwan's going to hold a referendum using Taiwan as the country name to enter U.N, and this action has raised serious concerns by the U.S. and China. Do you worry this might lead to some military reaction in the region?

SEC. GATES: No, I'm not worried that there will be a military reaction. We obviously are watching it very closely. The United States has spoken out on this quite clearly to the Taiwanese government, and the Chinese government knows that we have spoken out. They made reference to it while I was there. I think they'd like for us to speak out every single day, but I think that they know that we have weighed in heavily on this matter with the Taiwanese. By the same token, we've made pretty clear to the Chinese that this matter, that should continue to handle this matter in a political way.

GEN. CARTWRIGHT: Can I just follow up, just real quick, I mean, on this and the last question?

SEC. GATES: Yes.

GEN. CARTWRIGHT: It's the lines of communication and developing them so that we don't misinterpret, in both the ship case and the ASAT and the Taiwan piece. I had my counterpart here two weeks ago and sat down, and that was the key dialogue between the two of us, is we do not have good enough lines of communication so that we don't misinterpret or misunderstand each other's actions. And that's important in this relationship.

SEC. GATES: And we have used the Kitty Hawk incident as an example of where the direct link, the direct telephone link could have been helpful.

Jim.

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