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China, U.S. hotline likely

P. S. Suryanarayana

Move would avoid misunderstandings and miscalculations

SINGAPORE: China on Saturday announced its willingness to set up a defence-level hotline with U.S.

Speaking at the Asia Security Conference here, Lieutenant General Zhang Qinsheng, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army, said China and the U.S. "will finalise the establishment of the hotline" in September.

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who also addressed the conference being organised by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the move was "an important start". Hotlines would "avoid misunderstandings and miscalculations and provide a direct linkage".

The development was in tune with the mood of cordiality and candour that marked the U.S.-China engagement during the conference.

At the preceding annual conferences, the former U.S. Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, had invariably criticised the PLA for its alleged lack of transparency and the Chinese leaders for embarking on a "military buildup".

Lt. Gen. Zhang said the "turning point" towards the hotline decision occurred during Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to the U.S. last year. The issue had been under discussion for several years, and the two sides "cleared all the possibilities, all the technological difficulties" in April.

Fielding questions on some contentious issues on the U.S.-China front, the PLA official expressed "concern" and "worry" over the Washington-Tokyo move for an anti-ballistic missile (ABM) defence system in Asia.

Noting that an ABM system "will destabilise Asia," he said China would "oppose it very strongly" especially if it were to cover Taiwan.

He dismissed the Pentagon portrayal of China's military profile as "a product of the Cold War mindset".

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