China lashes out at Pentagon report

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/196079.html

The Chinese government reacted strongly on Friday to a Pentagon report that warned China's military modernization could destabilize the Asia-pacific region.

The Chinese Defense Ministry says the U.S. military's annual assessment of China's armed forces, indulged in exaggeration and groundless suspicion.

Military wariness between the two nations remains a source of tension. And the recent U.S. Defense Department Report once again underlines this.

The Pentagon report predicts that by 2020, the Chinese People's Liberation Army will become a "modern, regional-focused military", and claims that the Chinese mainland is focusing its military buildup on Taiwan.

But China replied saying that as technology advances, it's very normal for the Chinese military to develop and upgrade its weaponry. The Pentagon report merely "exaggerated the so-called mainland military threat to Taiwan." Xinhua

FACTS & FIGURES

Major investments in aircraft, a space program and maritime technologies by China that have closed the technical gap with the United States military put strengthening Sino-U.S. ties at a premium, said the Pentagon August report to Congress. China Daily

Thanks to major investments into its military over the past decade, many of China's technologies have reached maturity whereas others will become operational in the next few years, the Pentagon August report said. Conservative Refocus

The U.S. arms sales to Taiwan last January damaged military ties with China, hurting diplomatic exchanges until the end of 2010. With a new arms sale to Taiwan looming, the White House will make a decision by Oct 1 what to sell to Taiwan. India Times

Russia warns NATO about missile shield

Russia's Ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/193067.html

Russia has warned the United States and its NATO allies against plans to extend the deployment of missile defense systems in the north European waters, calling them provocative.

At a Tuesday press conference in Norway, Russia's ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin slammed the alliance's failure to guarantee that American warships equipped with anti-missile systems would not be deployed in the waters of north Europe, AFP reported.

"The very fact of deploying US military missile defense infrastructure in the northern seas is a real provocation with regard to the process of nuclear disarmament," said Rogozin.

Moscow fears that the anti-missile system would undermine its nuclear deterrent, and thus has been seeking legally binding guarantees to check it.

"Why is no one giving guarantees that a US fleet equipped with Aegis interceptor systems won't be deployed in the northern seas?" he added.

The Russian government has long opposed NATO's disputed plan of deploying an anti-missile shield in Europe, arguing that the would-be system in its "back yard” is not to secure Washington's European allies but is effectively aimed at Russia.

"I'm sure that if there were no such plans in reality, then I would have been given a very definite negative answer. I didn't get any firm answer to this question," the Russian envoy pointed out.

Moscow has also called for sharing control of any anti-missile shield, saying the aim of the so-called defense shield is to encircle Russia. Washington refuses to share the responsibility for protecting NATO member states with any third party.

NATO officials estimate that the missile shield project will not be completed before 2018.

NATO rejects Russian missile proposal

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/183607.html

NATO has flatly turned down a Russian proposal on the Western military alliance's plans to deploy a disputed missile system in Eastern Europe.

Moscow has indicated its willingness to drop its opposition to the installation of the missile system if NATO provides legal guarantees that the missiles would not be used against Russia.

"The most promising path towards greater trust is more discussion, more political debate and exchange,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in an interview with Interfax news agency released on Tuesday, AFP reported.

Rasmussen ruled out “complicated legal formulas which would be difficult to agree on and ratify” between the NATO member states and the Kremlin.

The refusal comes ahead of a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels on Wednesday where Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov will seek to convince his Western counterparts to sign a legally binding cooperation treaty.

Moscow wants details about the maximum amount and types of interceptor missiles, their speed as well as locations for missiles and radars to be specified in the treaty.

In 2010, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev talked with NATO leaders at a summit in Lisbon, Portugal, in a landmark meeting held to end long-standing hostilities between the two sides.

But the Western bloc rejected Medvedev's idea of dividing the European continent into sectors of military responsibility, insisting the two sides should keep their systems separate.

In his Interfax interview, Rasmussen reiterated that the two sides should not merge their systems.

"The reason is simple -- NATO cannot outsource to non-members collective defense obligations which bind its members," he argued.

Rasmussen, however, stressed that NATO's eastward expansion did not threaten Russia's interests, but on the contrary "the process itself has been beneficial to Euro-Atlantic security, including that of the Russian Federation."

"I can also assure you -- and I have said it publicly on many occasions -- that NATO will never attack Russia and we are convinced that Russia sees the alliance in the same light," he said.

Russia warns west of new Cold War

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/180571.html

Russia has warned the West of another Cold War if it fails to acknowledge the country's concerns regarding a planned missile system based in Europe.

On Wednesday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned that his country would take “retaliatory measures” if the United States would continue with the construction of the so-called missile defense system, AFP reported.

“We [Russia] would then be talking about developing the offensive potential of our nuclear capabilities; this would be a very bad scenario. It would be a scenario that throws us back into the Cold War era,” the Russian president said during a press conference.

Medvedev warned of an early pull out from the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), if the deployment of the missile shield would go forward in the absence of Russia.

Moscow's primary concern is that the missile system would be used against Russia rather than countering incoming missiles, as claimed by the US.

"We would like to see missile defense develop under clear rules," said Medvedev.

Moscow has long opposed the deployment of NATO missile facilities, calling it, a security threat.

Despite asking Russia to express its concerns regarding the missile shield at the meeting, NATO has denied Russia's formal role in the operation of the missile plans.

Even though Russia considers the US missile plans as a potential threat to its security, it has agreed to consider NATO's proposal to cooperate on the missile shield but insists that the system should be run jointly. NATO has rejected the Russian proposal.

The START has helped improve relations between Moscow and Washington, but Russia continues to view US missile plans with suspicion.