BEIJING, China (AP) -- China is raising global suspicion about its military intentions by failing to acknowledge the true size of recent increases in its defense spending, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday.On his first trip to China as President George W. Bush's defense chief, Rumsfeld is meeting with government officials and senior military leaders in advance of Bush's planned visit next month.A Chinese spokesman said he hoped Rumsfeld's visit "would increase his understanding" of China's policy.Rumsfeld will speak Wednesday at the Central Party School, the Communist Party's top training center for mid-career members and its main ideological think tank. President Hu Jintao was the school's president before he became the Communist Party general secretary in 2002.In an interview with reporters accompanying him from Washington, Rumsfeld said the United States and other countries would like to know why the Chinese government has understated its defense spending. He mentioned no budget figures, but the U.S. Defense Department has earlier said China might be spending $90 billion on defense this year -- three times the announced total."I think it's interesting that other countries wonder why they would be increasing their defense effort at the pace they are and yet not acknowledging it," Rumsfeld said. "That is as interesting as the fact that it's increasing at the pace it is."Asked about Rumsfeld's comments, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said Beijing hopes the visit can "increase mutual understanding and trust" between the two sides."We hope Rumsfeld's visit to China ... will increase his understanding of China's policy of firmly taking a peaceful road," he said.Bush's proposed Pentagon budget for the fiscal year that began October 1 is $419 billion, not including as much as $50 billion that Congress is likely to add to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and against terror worldwide. Congress is still negotiating a final budget bill.Rumsfeld said the U.S. government welcomed China's emergence as an economic power. But he also said that development had created "somewhat of a tension" for China's leaders as they attempted to cope with new influences and ideas that inevitably entered the country along with foreign investment."China is an important country in the region; it's a country that's increasingly important in the world," he said.China agreed to allow Rumsfeld to visit the headquarters of the strategic rocket forces at Qinghe, making him the first U.S. official ever to see the Second Artillery complex, according to Pentagon officials.The Chinese, however, denied Rumsfeld's request to visit the Western Hills command center, an underground facility that serves as a national military command post. No foreigner is believed to have been inside Western Hills.Rumsfeld was to meet Wednesday with the Chinese Minister of Defense, Gen. Cao Gangchuan.After an official greeting at the airport on Tuesday, Rumsfeld held a closed meeting with U.S. businessmen at his hotel and was attending a private reception with Chinese officials.In his comments before arriving, Rumsfeld suggested that China had yet to satisfy much of the international community that it was committed to political reforms in the direction of democracy.Among the topics expected to arise during his visit: tensions over Taiwan, the self-governing island that China insists on reuniting with the mainland, and U.S. encouragement for China to use its influence in six-party negotiations to end North Korea's nuclear ambitions.Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.