PARIS, May 11: The United States is concerned about Russia’s use of its energy resources as a political weapon and China’s lack of transparency over military spending, U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was quoted as saying.

In an opinion piece printed in France’s Le Figaro daily on Thursday, Mr Rumsfeld said the U.S. focus was currently on Iraq and Afghanistan but that in the future, its policies would be determined by choices made by other powers such as China and Russia.

“Russia, a country with vast natural resources ... is a partner of the United States on security,” Mr Rumsfeld said.

“But on certain issues, Russia has not been very cooperative and has used its energy resources as a political weapon.”

Vice President Dick Cheney provoked an angry reaction from Russia earlier this month when he told Baltic and Black Sea leaders that Russian President Vladimir Putin was backsliding on democracy and using energy reserves to “blackmail” Moscow’s neighbours.

Russia drew international criticism earlier this year when it briefly turned off its natural gas taps to Ukraine in a pricing dispute that disrupted supplies to Europe.

Mr Rumsfeld said China’s lack of transparency over military spending complicated the relationship between the two countries.

“Some aspects of the Chinese attitude are worrying and complicate our relations,” he said.

“A notorious lack of transparency (on military spending) is of course worrying for China’s neighbours.”

China says it has been open about its military spending and says that as a share of gross domestic product and the government budget it is fairly low by international standards. —Reuters