| By Matt Spetalnick
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House pressed China on Thursday
for further reforms of what it called "discredited" trade policies and
criticized its military expansion in a hardening of the U.S. line on
the Asia-Pacific power.
The rebuke to China was contained in a new national security
strategy, the first comprehensive update since the 2003 U.S.-led
invasion of Iraq, that singled out longtime foes Iran and North Korea
for its most strident language.
But the White House also made clear it regarded China, which has
coupled economic expansion with a major military build-up, as a
growing challenge to U.S. interests.
And it issued a veiled threat, saying, "Our strategy seeks to
encourage China to make the right strategic choices for its people,
while we hedge against other possibilities."
Voicing concern about China's trade tactics, the document said
Beijing was "expanding trade, but acting as if they can somehow 'lock
up' energy supplies around the world or seek to direct markets rather
than opening them up -- as if they can follow a mercantilism borrowed
from a discredited era."
President George W. Bush, under pressure to rein in the U.S.
deficit with China, promised last week to keep the heat on Beijing to
float its currency. U.S. manufacturers and lawmakers have been vocal
about the yuan, which they contend is undervalued, making Chinese
goods unfairly cheap.
Stepped-up U.S. criticism comes at a sensitive juncture. U.S.
officials have made no formal announcement about an expected visit to
Washington by Chinese President Hu Jintao but many experts believe it
has been targeted for late April.
URGING FURTHER REFORMS
The document released on Thursday praised China's economic reforms
but suggested the changes did not go deep enough. It urged Beijing to
broaden democratic freedoms.
"China's leaders must realize ... that they cannot stay on this
peaceful path while holding on to old ways of thinking and acting that
exacerbate concerns throughout the region and the world," it said.
The document reiterated U.S. concerns about the "non-transparent"
expansion of China's military. The 2.3 million-strong People's
Liberation Army is the world's largest standing force.
| The document also voiced criticism of China for
"supporting resource-rich countries without regard to the
misrule at home or misbehavior abroad of those regimes," an
apparent reference to ties with countries like Iran, Myanmar,
Zimbabwe and Sudan.
It called on Beijing to act as a "responsible stakeholder"
in the global economic system.
The White House also pressed Beijing for political reforms.
"Ultimately, China's leaders must see that they cannot let
their population increasingly experience the freedoms to buy,
sell and produce, while denying them the rights to assemble,
speak and worship," the document said.
It said China and Taiwan must "resolve their differences
peacefully, without coercion and without unilateral action by
either China or Taiwan."
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
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