BEIJING - Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie headed to Singapore for an Asia-Pacific security dialogue Friday, the first time ever a Chinese defense minister is attending.

His participation demonstrates China's pursuit of a defensive and transparent national defense policy and mutual military trust with other countries.

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The annual dialogue from Friday to Sunday is attracting defense ministers and senior military officers from 28 Asia-Pacific states. The dialogue, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, has been held in Singapore's Shangri-La Hotel since 2002.

At the dialogue, Liang is expected to elaborate on China's defensive national defense policy and highlight its unswerving determination to stick to the road of peaceful development.

On the sidelines of the dialogue, he will also meet US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and military chiefs of some other countries to promote bilateral military ties.

Actually, China has all along actively carried out military exchanges with other countries to build up military trust.

Liang paid an official goodwill visit to Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines in Southeast Asia on May 15-25.

Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army of China Chen Bingde paid a week-long official visit to the United States in mid-May.

Gates visited China in January, during which he met with Chinese President Hu Jintao, also chairman of the Central Military Commission, on bilateral military ties. Gates also held talks with his Chinese counterpart Liang.

In recent years, with the rise of China's economic power, some Western politicians and media have been concerned about China's military expenditures, and worried China's rising military clout and its opaque nature would pose a threat to regional stability.

An article titled "Chinese Warship May Be Nearly Ready," which was published by The New York Times on April 7, said China's military modernization efforts "have raised fears among foreign governments that China will use a more robust military for expansionist purposes or to press for regional dominance."

Last August, then US Representative Ike Skelton of Missouri, who was chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he was concerned by "ambiguities regarding China's military modernization ... which do not obviously support China's stated national security objectives."

In contrast to the comments, China's seventh white paper on national defense, issued by China's Information Office of the State Council on March 31, said China has adhered to a defensive national defense policy, which is determined by China's development path, its fundamental aims, its foreign policy, and its historical and cultural traditions.

As the latest example of making China's military affairs more transparent, the Defense Ministry held its first-ever regular press conference in Beijing on April 27.

In recent years, China's national defense spending has generally accounted for 1.4 percent of its gross domestic product, while the figures of the world's major developed countries have stayed at 3 to 4 percent, according to Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng.

As of December 2010, China dispatched 17,390 military personnel to participate in 19 UN peacekeeping missions. Nine personnel lost their lives in the missions. China has dispatched more peacekeeping personnel than any other permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Moreover, China has adhered to the policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons at any time and in any circumstances.

Despite concerns and worries from the West, China has stuck to a defensive and transparent national defense policy, advocated peaceful development, and actively contributed to the world's peace and stability.