China has launched a public-relations offensive. The publication of a white paper on the country's "peaceful development" is designed to quiet concerns about China's growing affluence and how Beijing intends to use the influence that it wields. It is a difficult assignment. China may be assured of its own good intentions; its neighbors are not. Chinese behavior raises questions that Beijing must address. Engagement with neighbors, partners, friends and even potential adversaries is the only real solution to the unease surrounding China's intentions.
Last week, Foreign Minister Taro Aso noted that China "possesses nuclear arms, its military budget has seen double-digit growth for the past 17 years and its content is not transparent." A growing missile force, the pursuit of a blue-water navy, the modernization of its submarines and an increasingly belligerent stance over territorial conflicts with Japan all add to his concern. Mr. Aso is not sure why China is taking these steps given the seeming lack of direct threats to it and concluded that China "is starting to become a considerable threat." Those thoughts were echoed by Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, and even Mr. Seiji Maehara, the head of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, has admitted that he is troubled by China's growing military capabilities.
Japan is not the only country worried about China's defense modernization efforts. U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld raised similar questions last summer in a speech in Singapore. A Pentagon report on the Chinese military amplified them when it was published shortly thereafter. Security planners throughout the region have kept a close eye on China's military, calling on Beijing to provide more information about its military spending, its plans and its views of the world.