'No alternative' but boost China military ties: US

There is "no other alternative" for the United States and China but to boost military-to-military relations to manage disputes, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Saturday.

A robust security dialogue between the two powers is key to the prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region, Panetta told delegates to the Shangri-La Dialogue, a security conference held in Singapore annually.

"Our relationship with China -- we approach it in a very clear-eyed way. We are not naive about the relationship and neither is China," he said in response to a question after a speech.

"We both understand the differences we have, we both understand the conflicts we have but we also both understand that there really is no other alternative but for both of us to engage and to improve our communications and to improve our military-to-military relationship."