Suggesting a rift between Chinese civilian and military leaders on the issue, Gates said it was his "opinion that the PLA (People's Liberation Army) is significantly less interested in developing this relationship than the political leadership of the country".

Gates had planned to visit Beijing as part of an Asian tour that kicks off this week with an annual security conference in Singapore attended by senior military officials, including a delegation from China.

China has denounced US arms sales to Taiwan unveiled in January, and the cancellation of Gates' visit appeared to fit a pattern of stepping back from exchanges with the American military to convey displeasure.

Speaking to reporters aboard his plane before landing in Singapore, Gates defended the weapons sales, saying they were nothing new and had not affected political or economic ties with Beijing.

"The reality is these arms sales go back to the beginning of the relationship," he said, referring to the normalisation of US-China ties in 1979.

The sales have always been "carefully calibrated" to provide Taiwan with defensive weapons.

"It depends on whether the Chinese want to make a big deal out of it or not," he said. "It's been there for over a generation."

Selling weapons to Taiwan has "not inhibited the development of the political and economic relationship" with China, he added.

President Barack Obama's administration in January approved a 6.4 billion dollar arms package for Taiwan, including helicopters, Patriot missiles and mine-hunting ships.

China strongly opposes US arms sales to Taiwan, arguing they run counter to the US recognition in 1979 of Beijing as China's sole government.

But despite discord over Taiwan, Gates held up as a model the decades-long military dialogue between Washington and Moscow, which he argued had helped avoid misunderstandings.

"So I'm disappointed that the PLA leadership has not seen the same potential benefits from this kind of a military-to-military relationship as their own leadership and the United States seem to think would be of benefit," he said.

Before Gates made his comments, China confirmed no arrangements had been made for him to visit Beijing.

Last week, the deputy head of the PLA general staff, Ma Xiaotian, said US arms sales to self-ruled Taiwan were the "foremost obstacles" to military ties with Washington.

General Ma is scheduled to attend the Singapore conference, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, but US officials said Gates would not be meeting the general because the delegation was not at a high enough level.

The Pentagon chief said there had been hints that China would cancel the visit despite an earlier invitation, and US officials were told last week in Beijing that it "would not be a good time for me to come".

He said US-China relations were moving forward on all fronts "with the sole exception of the military-to-military relationship".

"Whether this is a result of pushback by the PLA or there is some other factor, it's very difficult for us to tell."

With North Korea's alleged sinking of a South Korean warship expected to dominate the Singapore conference, Gates acknowledged that face-to-face talks with Chinese military leaders on the crisis would have been helpful.

"But we're not interested if they're not interested," he said.

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