BEIJING, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- On his way to Beijing, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld expressed concerns Tuesday over China's burgeoning spending on its military.
He told reporters there was little transparency in the military spending, with little to be seen publicly on where the money is going. He also dismissed the Chinese official amount of $30 billion in military spending this year, saying he suspects it's as much as three times higher, the Financial Times reported.
In his first trip to China since becoming defense secretary in 2001, Rumsfeld said he expected to discuss ways to improve Chinese-U.S. military ties, which froze over after a Chinese fighter jet collided with a U.S. EP-3 spy plane off the Chinese coast in April 2001.
Rumsfeld is scheduled Wednesday to meet Hu Jintao, China's president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Gen. Cao Gangchuan, the Chinese defense minister.
The military will give Rumsfeld an unprecedented tour of the country's strategic nuclear missiles command center, but declined to allow him to visit the "real Chinese Pentagon" in the Western Hills area outside of Beijing.
