Pentagon chief's visit exposes US-China divide: Visiting US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Chinese military chiefs traded warnings and rebukes Tuesday as they clashed over Beijing's territorial disputes with its neighbours, North Korea's missile programme and cyber espionage.
Both sides were clearly at odds over a litany of issues, despite Hagel and his counterpart General Chang Wanquan calling for more dialogue between the world's strongest and largest militaries, with the American coming under hostile questioning from a roomful of People's Liberation Army officers.
One member of the audience told Hagel the United States feared China's rise and was sowing trouble among its Pacific neighbours to "hamper" Beijing because one day "China will be too big a challenge for the United States to cope with".
The Pentagon chief denied the US was trying to hold China back but the tough questioning contrasted with the deferential reception given to his predecessor Leon Panetta at a similar event two years ago.
Hagel faced a blunt reprimand in an earlier meeting with a senior officer, General Fan Changlong, vice-chairman of China's Central Military Commission, according to an account from the official state news agency Xinhua.
Referring to critical comments by Hagel earlier in his Asia trip, Fan said the "Chinese people, including myself, are dissatisfied with such remarks".
