China's military to work at trust with neighbors

The pledge was contained in a government policy paper issued every two years and follows complaints from the United States and other countries that China hasn't adequately explained the goals of its rapid military expansion in the last three decades.

Alarm bells have sounded over the detention of foreign fishermen and harassment of research vessels in the South China Sea, along with warnings to the U.S. to stay out of the Yellow Sea off its northern coast and aggressive maneuvering by Chinese ships and helicopters in waters near Japan.

Stronger assertions of sovereignty claims have also sparked a regional backlash, drawing China's neighbors closer to rival Washington and posing new challenges to Chinese diplomacy.

Washington has urged increased contacts with the Chinese military, although the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has often appeared reluctant. Beijing cut off formal exchanges in anger at a US$6.4 billion arms package offered to Taiwan last year, although the defense paper said the sides were now “maintaining effective dialogues and communications after various ups and downs.”

In an apparent recognition of the need for greater communication, the defense report included for the first time a separate section on military confidence building, highlighting defense consultations, joint training missions and exchanges between border units.

The 2.3 million-member People's Liberation Army is the world's largest standing military and its modernization has been accompanied by gradual steps toward greater engagement with the outside world, including sending more than 17,000 military personnel to take part in United Nations peacekeeping missions.

Yet the PLA's boosted capabilities and soaring budgets have also alarmed many observers concerned with challenges to the U.S. Navy's predominance in the western Pacific. On the back of booming economic growth, China's official defense spending rose 12.7 percent this year to about 601 billion yuan (US$91.5 billion), second highest in the world behind the United States.

In introducing the report, Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng reasserted Chinese claims that it would never use its military might to bully its neighbors.

“At present and in future, no matter how developed China is, China will never seek hegemony or pursue expansionist policies,” Geng said.

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