China: We're not military threat

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Chinese President Hu Jintao on Friday dismissed concerns about the country's increasing military power, vowing to maintain a "defensive" national defence policy.

Hu made the remarks during a meeting with the heads of air force delegations from 30 countries, in China to attend the 60th anniversary celebrations of China's air force.

During the meeting Hu said that China's national defence policy would remain "defensive in nature".

"We will never conduct military expansion and competition. We will not impose any military threat to any country," he said.

China's rapidly modernising air force is planning a display of its new military might for its 60th anniversary, showcasing a wide-ranging technical upgrade that has boosted its capabilities.

Beijing insists the events, including the third major military display this year, are intended only to boost public pride and confidence in the armed forces, although they have also renewed concern abroad about the ultimate aims of China's military expansion.

The People's Liberation Army Air Force is marking Sunday's anniversary with an aerial show and skydiving exhibition, using some of the state-of-the-art combat aircraft that have replaced hundreds of antiquated MIG fighters.

While only about 20 percent of those planes are on a level with those deployed by the West, that ratio is already double what it was five years ago, according to experts.

In another two decades, China could become the region's dominant air force, experts say.

China's air force and navy have been prime beneficiaries of huge defence spending increases as the primarily land-based, defensively oriented military boosts its ability to project force far from the nation's borders.

Tanker planes, AWACS and other support aircraft have been added to extend the reach and effectiveness of the air force's advanced Russian Sukhoi and domestically developed J-10 fighters.

The force has more than 600-thousand members and about 2-thousand aircraft, making it the largest in Asia, but still far smaller than the United States Air Force fleet, which has more than 5,500 aircraft and nearly 327,500 active service personnel.

Delegations from 30 countries including US, Russia, Pakistan and North Korea are attending the activities.

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