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U.S. Defense Secretary visits China

The American Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfled, took a conciliatory tone when he arrived in the Chinese capital of Beijing on Tuesday, urging the authoritarian government to explain a jump in Chinese military spending even as he invited the People`s Republic to play a bigger role in the economic and security affairs of the wider world.

"China is an important country in the region. It`s a country that`s increasingly important in the world. Its economy is growing at a smart clip. They are active worldwide. And it`s a country that we would like to see engage the world as they are in a peaceful and constructive way," Mr. Rumsfeld noted in an in-flight interview before landing in China. "Those of us in the United States and in other countries around the world, free countries, hope that the choices they make are choices toward a more open society, a more transparent society."

The Defense Secretary`s staff had requested from Beijing that he be allowed to visit the "Western Hills" military complex outside of Beijing, described as the "Chinese Pentagon", but the request was denied by the communist government. However, Rumsfeld will be the first American defense secretary to visit the headquarters of China`s strategic missile fleet, in itself no small gesture.