China sees threats from separatists and U.S. arms sales

BEIJING: The Chinese government announced Tuesday that the nation faces important threats in the form of independence movements related to Taiwan, Tibet and the western desert region of Xinjiang, and that American arms sales to Taiwan continue to jeopardize stability in Asia.

The announcement came in a white paper on national defense released Tuesday by the State Council, the Chinese equivalent of a cabinet. The paper said that "China's security situation has improved steadily," but that "being in a stage of economic and social transition, China is encountering many new circumstances and new issues in maintaining social stability."

The 105-page paper, which includes tables on defense expenditures and other statistics, sought to portray China as a nation whose military power is to be used only for defense, and one that sees maintaining its territorial integrity as the top priority of national defense.

According to goals implied in the paper, China also seeks to act as a counterbalance to the American military presence in Asia. Several times in the first part of the paper, the authors pointed out worrisome aspects of American intervention in the region.

"The U.S. has increased its strategic attention to and input in the Asia-Pacific region, further consolidating its military alliances, adjusting its military deployment and enhancing its military capabilities," the paper said.

Last October, the Pentagon announced it was selling $6.5 billion of weaponry to Taiwan despite vehement protests from Beijing. The package included 30 Apache attack helicopters, 330 Patriot missiles and 32 Harpoon missiles that can be launched from submarines. The sale had been delayed for murky political reasons. The Taiwan Relations Act, passed in 1979, says the U.S. must provide arms of a defensive nature to Taiwan and act to protect Taiwan from any hostilities.

In presenting the white paper on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense said he hoped the administration of Barack Obama would build stronger military relations between the United States and China.

"At present, when China-U.S. military-to-military relations are faced with difficulties, we call on the U.S. Department of Defense to remove obstacles," the spokesman, Sr. Colonel Hu Changming, said at a news conference.

Taiwan remains the biggest source of potential military conflict between the two nations.

Although Taiwan enjoys de facto independence and is a thriving democracy, the Chinese government has long maintained that it will reunite Taiwan with the mainland, by force if necessary. Under Taiwan's previous president, Chen Shui-bian, relations with the mainland grew extremely tense because Chen's policies moved Taiwan closer to formal independence, prompting bellicose reactions from Beijing and Washington, which wants to avoid becoming involved in a war between China and Taiwan.

But following the election in Taiwan last year of Ma Ying-jeou, a member of the Kuomintang Party that fled the Communist takeover of China in 1949, the Taiwanese government has taken a more conciliatory approach toward the mainland. Chen was recently arrested on corruption charges.

The white paper grouped separatist forces in Taiwan — meaning supporters of Chen and his policies — with groups seeking independence for Tibet and Xinjiang. "Separatist forces working for 'Taiwan independence,' 'East Turkestan independence' and 'Tibet independence' pose threats to China's unity and security," the paper said.

Last year, violence erupted in Tibet and Xinjiang that challenged the country's security forces.

Since 2001, when the Bush administration announced its "war on terror," the Chinese government has said it faces an organized terrorist independence movement in Xinjiang, an oil-rich area that is home to the Uighurs, a Muslim Turkic-speaking ethnic group. Many Uighurs are resentful of rule by the ethnic Han Chinese, and some openly advocate an independent country called East Turkestan.

Last March, riots and protests erupted across Tibetan areas of China, prompting a harsh crackdown. The Chinese government has accused the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetans, of organizing the uprising, which the Dalai Lama has denied. The Chinese government is watching closely for disruptions that might unfold this March, which will be the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's flight from Tibet to India, where he lives in exile.

The white paper did not give a number for a defense budget for next year. The government had said it expected to spend $61 billion on the military in 2008, a nearly 18 percent increase over 2007. Some foreign analysts say the actual figure is much higher. The Chinese military has about 2.3 million members.

The white paper also made no mention of construction of an aircraft carrier, which Chinese military officials have said is a project under consideration. It did say that "efforts are being made to build new types of submarines, destroyers, frigates and aircraft