China warns U.S. against adventurism

BEIJING, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Following a revised defense posture from Washington, China's media advised the U.S. military to tread cautiously in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Defense Strategic Review, while short on specifics in advance of U.S. President Barack Obama's budget proposals in a few weeks, seeks to enact more than $400 billion in Pentagon budget cuts and reductions in force for the next decade.

Obama said the strategy includes strengthening the U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, ensuring the troops have the equipment to succeed and are assisted once they return home.

An op-ed Friday by China's state-run news agency Xinhua warns the Obama administration of adventurism in the Asia-Pacific.

"The United States should learn from its past painful experiences and play a constructive role in the Asia-Pacific instead of recklessly practicing militarism," the article read. "After all, might does not always make right."

The article notes that Washington can play a constructive role in stability in the region provided it's "free from a Cold War-style zero-sum mentality."

Obama during a November meeting with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard signed a security agreement that would expand the U.S. military presence in the region.

Last year, Michael Schiffer, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, said while China's expanding military capabilities made it an important partner in peacekeeping and disaster relief operations, "the pace and scope of China's sustained military investments" was cause for concern.