The Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress is considering inviting to China the writers of two reports submitted last week to the US Congress.
One report was submitted by the Pentagon and the other by the US-China Security Review Commission and have both been rejected by China, regarding the reports as pursuing the "China threat'' theory.
Zeng Jianhui, chairman of the Congress Foreign Affairs Committee for the past four years, told China Daily in Beijing: "We'd like to invite them so they can look at China from a different perspective and address any misconceptions they have about the country.''
Zeng said some US Congress members did not understand China well enough. "They misunderstand the rise of China and we need to provide them with a chance to take a better look at our goodwill for world peace,'' Zeng said.
Meanwhile, the NPC Foreign Affairs Committee will closely watch how the US Congress reacts to the two reports.
Zeng said the NPC plans to increase exchange visits with the US Congress.
"I'd like to see no confrontation or bickering but, instead, efforts to find more common interests and truth in a matter-of-fact way,'' he said.
Zeng said he recognized there was a problem due to lack of knowledge, misunderstanding and the influence of unbalanced media reports about China in the United States. "But I do not want to see more quarrels provoked unnecessarily in a cold-war-style way,'' he said.
Dialogue is the best way to settle differences and problems and to build up mutual understanding and trust, Zeng said.
"We expect to help people in America learn that a developed China will be a beneficial force, instead of a threat, for not only the United States but Asia and the whole world,'' Zeng said.
The National People's Congress will help US Congress members find information on sensitive concerns such as human rights, Zeng said.
Zeng said a few high-profile groups of US Congress members will come to China in the coming months for important discussions.
Zeng said US Congress members will be able to visit churches, temples and prisons anywhere in China, including in the Tibet Autonomous Region if they want, to get to know the country better.
More frequent exchanges between the Chinese and US congresses are vital for better Sino-US relations, Zeng said.
Zeng said members of his committee were ready to be as frank as possible during discussions with members of the US Congress.
FM: Ulterior Motives Behind US Reports
China yesterday refuted the Pentagon's report on Chinese military power, saying that those who issued the report had "ulterior motives."
"The so-called estimation that China's defence budget is as high as US$65 billion is groundless and has ulterior motives," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan.
Kong pointed out that China's military budget for 2002 is 166.2 billion yuan (US$20 billion). He said the figure is reliable.
China has a budget law, and that law is enforced, Kong said. The country's defence spending, as well as spending for other purposes, is strictly managed according to the law.
Kong made the remarks to reporters in Beijing in response to a recent Pentagon report which estimated China's 2002 military spending at a hefty US$65 billion, more than three times the official figure of China.
The Pentagon report to the US Congress on July 14, entitled The Military Power of the People's Republic of China, said that China could increase its annual military spending three-to-four fold by 2020. It also said that a potential conflict in the Taiwan Straits is the primary driver for the Chinese mainland's military modernization.
In an earlier response to the report, Kong urged the United States not to send "the wrong signals" to the Taiwan independence force.
The Chinese Government has reiterated on many occasions that China's national defence policy is defensive in nature and its basic goals are to consolidate national defence, resist foreign aggression, defend the nation's sovereignty over its land, sea and air as well as its maritime rights and interests, and safeguard national unity and security.
China does not seek world or regional hegemony. China does not have any troops stationed, nor any military bases in any foreign country. China's national defence construction is not directed against any country, and thus, does not pose a threat to any country.
Yesterday Kong stressed that China's defence budget is the lowest among all the major countries in the world.
For a large country like China, which has a large population and long land borders and coastal lines, its defence spending is very low, whether looked at in terms of absolute volume, the national average level, military staff average level, or as a percentage of gross national product or national financial expenditure," Kong said.
"As a developing country, China's paramount task is economic construction so as to further raise its people's living standard," said Kong, adding that it is normal for China to suitably increase its defence expenditures to raise the living standard of military staff and guarantee the modernization of national defence.
(Edited from China Daily, July 26, 2002)
