Singapore ? U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld struck a conciliatory tone toward China Saturday, saying he was encouraged that Beijing was on a path toward being more transparent in its military intentions.

His remarks, at an annual gathering of Asian defense ministers here, were a significant departure from his strong rebuke of Chinese military spending at the same conference a year ago. He used the occasion then to warn that Beijing’s obfuscation on its strategic ambitions threatened regional stability.

Rumsfeld insisted his remarks were not tied to the administration’s efforts to win Chinese agreement on a diplomatic course that could lead to United Nations sanctions against Iran for its refusal to suspend its nuclear program.

Rumsfeld insisted his remarks were not tied to the administration’s new initiatives regarding Iran and denied there was any shift in administration policy. “I didn’t notice any tone change,” he told reporters.

But unlike last year, where he devoted the bulk of his remarks to China’s attempts to upgrade its weapons technologies, Rumsfeld’s address Saturday mentioned China only briefly and in much more muted tones.

In response to 45 minutes of questions from Asian government officials and academics following the address, he was even more conciliatory. He said China was increasingly engaged with the international community, a trend he believed would lead Beijing to be more open with its strategic intentions in order to encourage continued economic investment.

“I’m encouraged that’s the path we’re on,” he said. “It’s a constructive path.”

A senior Pentagon official traveling with Rumsfeld said the shift in tone from a year ago was intentional, but said the change was due only to Rumsfeld’s desire to prevent bilateral issues with Beijing from overshadowing other regional security issues.

“He didn’t come here to belabor the issue again,” the official said. “He did not want this to dominate the issues here.”

Rumsfeld has hoped to make this annual conference, organized by the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies, a major forum to discuss Asian defense policy. He has asked Beijing to send a high-level military delegation, but conference organizers said it only sent two mid-level Foreign Ministry officials.

Although Rumsfeld repeated his desire to see China further “demystify” its military intentions, he also went out of his way to say he did not believe Beijing would use force in Taiwan, long the thorniest defense issue in U.S.-Chinese relations.