Last month, the Pentagon issued its 2007 "Report on China's Military Posture," trumpeting China's military threat.

This, while twisting the status quo of China's military strength and its defensive nature, mars the friendly atmosphere shared by the Chinese and US military following the China visit by US Marine General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Admiral Timothy Keating, commander-in-chief, US Pacific Command.

Since Robert Zoellick, then deputy secretary of State, defined China as a "stakeholder" in the international system in September 2005, the definition has gained increasing acceptance in the international community.

As two stakeholders, China and the US are economically interdependent in the era of globalization.

There is, however, more to it than that. China and the US share the need to maintain regional stability and international security. They have common responsibilities in the Post-Cold War world where profound changes have taken place in the strategic framework.

In the final period of the Cold War, the Sino-US military ties were primarily based on the common need to cope with the Soviet Union's expansionist military strategy.

In the Post-Cold War era, the connotations of Sino-US strategic interests have changed significantly but the basis of their shared strategic interests remains intact. In fact, this basis has expanded in the context that the two countries' interdependence keeps deepening while both are confronted with increasing security problems.

With economic globalization accelerating, stability and security are not merely the pre-conditions for China's peaceful development but necessary for the United States' long-term prosperity as well.

This is particularly so when a host of factors is taken into account: Traditional security problems are still there; non-traditional security problems such as the threat to economic, monetary, information and environmental security are growing increasingly assertive: threats posed by terrorism, extremism and separatism are on the rise; proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is gaining speed; outbreaks in hot-spot areas are intensifying.

All these new security problems are often transnational by nature. In addition, they are connected to each other, hard to detect before they evolve into grave issues, and seem to defy prediction.

Security issues are no longer the exclusive concern of one country. No country can remain immune from threat in such a complex and treacherous security landscape.

The security of one country can be achieved only through the security of all the members of the international community. In the same manner, coping with security problems, which are transnational by nature, is beyond the strength of any single country. It calls for wide and effective cooperation among the members of the international community.

China and the US, two influential big powers, have particularly heavy responsibilities for maintaining regional and global security. As a matter of fact, China and the US are already bound together in a kind of security community in the globalization era. This is the solid foundation for developing a new type of Sino-US military relationship.

China is now traveling along the road of peaceful development. Among other factors, it has its roots in a 5,000-year-old culture advocating harmony between man and nature, among people, and between the mind and the body.

China's development is primarily based on tapping its own strategic resources, bringing its own people's hardworking spirit and wisdom into play. In the meantime, China is opening its door to the world as wide as possible. The relationship between China's development and that of the world is one based on a benign cycle.

The development of China also offers golden strategic opportunities to the world.

China's military development and its defense modernization drive, which are tuned to a moderate pace, are defensive in nature.

China does not challenge anyone, nor does its military strength pose a threat to anyone. In the nuclear era, it is impossible to imagine that any country could rise by resorting to military means.

A wide gap exists between Chinese and US military strength. China is not foolish enough to challenge the position of Uncle Sam by using force. So, the theory that China's military power constitutes a threat to the US is at the very least based on ignorance, if not on ill intent.

It is also impossible to imagine that the US could get away with using force to rob China of its right to peaceful development without paying a price in the nuclear era.

In the Cold War era, the United States and the Soviet Union maintained a balance of terror based on nuclear parity.

In the Post-Cold War period, nuclear parity has lost its significance in the face of the overkill power of over-stockpiled nuclear weapons.

As a result, the balance of nuclear strike effects is replacing the equilibrium of nuclear strength. So, no country can emerge a victor from a nuclear confrontation.

China and the US have no reason to be locked in confrontation, let alone nuclear confrontation. We should be on the alert against those with ulterior motives who are trying to lure the two countries into confrontation

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates stated clearly at a news briefing on March 7 that he did not regard China as the United States' strategic foe and that engagement with China in various areas was very important.

General Pace remarked, in his meeting with the leaders of China's Nanjing Military Command on March 23, that the US and China both had strong military strength but neither party wanted to go to war with the other.

He went on to say that he did not see any threat from China. He also remarked that the two countries should not focus on how to fight a war but should focus on how to prevent war. This is quite to the point.

Pushed by far-sighted Chinese and American politicians and military leaders, Sino-US military ties are showing signs of strong momentum. Apart from that, military leaders from both countries maintain ever closer liaison; recently high-level military visits have been frequent; and the Chinese and US navies have staged a joint maritime search-and-rescue exercise. The Chinese and US military are discussing establishing a hotline.

The author is a special researcher with China Institute of International Studies

Source: China Daily