Military relations between the U.S. and China remain the weakest link in the overall bilateral relationship, and have been for many years. The “positive, cooperative, and comprehensive” relationship presidents Obama and Hu Jintao have committed to demands that the two militaries do better at achieving a stable relationship that can find ways to cooperate when necessary and mitigate the differences that divide them.

A first-blush analysis of China’s 2010 National Defense White Paper indicates that it provides new and more detail in some areas, but fails to shed new light in many others. In general, the White Paper is quite clear about China’s strategic assessment, but on more purely military matters, the White Paper does not meet expectations.

The Sino-U.S. military relationship is still harboring many “zero-sum” leftovers and lags far behind those in other areas. It is time for China and US to improve military trust and transparency to resolve the “security dilemma” in Sino-U.S. military relations. China should more confidently outlay its strategic transparency to dispel outdated perceptions while the United States should discard its Cold War mentality and not regard China’s military development.

Although China adheres to its long-held national defense policy which is defensive in nature, the form and content of that policy have been evolving to adapt to the changing environment, missions and objectives, ranging from the security of China’s traditional land, sea and air territory, to the safety of maritime, outer space, and cyberspace interests. These shifts, however, do not mean that China gives up the defensive nature of its policy.

China, in an ongoing bid to be more transparent about its military modernization, released the 2010 defense white paper, China’s National Defense in 2010, this week. The overall picture painted is of Beijing operating in an increasingly complicated security environment.

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The Joint Statement released during Chinese President Hu Jintao’s January 2011 visit to the United States affirmed that “a healthy, stable, and reliable milit

Realist international relations theorists usually would predict that the basic pressures of the international system will force the United States and China into

Despite the mostly friendly nature of President Hu Jintao’s state visit to Washington last month, the potential still exists for the US-China relationship to b