China anti-satellite test sends wrong signal: U.S.

By Lindsay Beck

BEIJING (Reuters) - The new head of the U.S. Pacific Command said on Saturday that China's anti-satellite test sent a "confusing signal" about its military intentions, adding he would push for deeper exchange and openness between the countries' forces.

Adm. Timothy Keating, who took the helm of the Pacific Command two months ago, said Guo Boxiong, the vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, emphasised to him that Beijing's intentions in the January test were purely scientific.

But he said other countries saw China's missile strike against one of its own satellites as having military overtones.

"We agreed, each of us, to hold to our different perspectives," Keating told reporters.

"An anti-satellite test is not necessarily a clear indication of a desire for peaceful utilization of space. It is a confusing signal, shall we say, for a country who desires, in China's words, a peaceful rise."

China's military modernization and expanding defense budget have been a source of friction with the United States, which has called for more transparency and warned that a build-up of forces could be destabilizing to Northeast Asia.

But Keating, who will visit the 179th army brigade in the eastern city of Nanjing on Sunday, said more of those kinds of exchanges would increase exposure and understanding between the two nations.

Keating's predecessor, Adm. William Fallon, pushed to upgrade ties after the two countries broke off military contacts following a collision between a Chinese fighter jet and U.S. surveillance plane in 2001.

The two held joint search-and-rescue exercises last year and the U.S. military played host to Chinese forces.

Keating said he hoped for reciprocal openness and would push for more exchanges.

"We are going to ask for increased latitude in our subsequent visits -- we're going to look to get out and about," he said, adding he would be especially interested in visiting missile battalions in western China.

But he said he did not put much stock in figures on China's defense spending, which increased by 17.8 percent this year, saying "the percentages are a fairly imprecise number" and that it was more important to look at capabilities.

China had more submarines than before, a more technologically advanced air force and a huge army, he said.

"They're getting better. The equipment, the hardware that China's fielding, is improving."

"We're not naive to those developments," he said.