The United States wants China's military to reciprocate the access Washington has given the Chinese to American exercises and bases, senior Pentagon officials told US Congress on Thursday.

The officials cited Chinese officers' attendance at the Valiant Shield naval exercise taking place in the Western Pacific near Guam as the type of invitation the Pentagon wants China's People's Liberation army to extend to U.S. forces.

An Air Force B-2 bomber along with other aircrafts from the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps fly over the Kitty Hawk, Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike groups during the photo portion of Exercise Valiant Shield 2006 over the Philippine Sea, June 18, 2006. [Reuters]

"We now wait for the next shoe to drop, to find out whether they will reciprocate, because it's not just about transparency, it's about reciprocity as well," Gen. John Allen, the Pentagon's principal director of Asia-Pacific Affairs told a Congressional hearing.

One test of China's willingness to reciprocate would be whether Beijing invites U.S. officers to observe exercises by Chinese troops or by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Allen said.

Assistant Defense Secretary Pete Rodman told the same House Armed of Representatives Armed Services Committee hearing that the United States aimed to apply continuous pressure on China to be more transparent about its military.

Rodman, who was in China this month for military talks, said the Pentagon was being offered more access by the Chinese and during his last visit he was given an explanation of China's defense budget.

"We're pushing them to make changes that on the surface are tactical, but really are systemic issues to them. I would not expect them to change overnight," Rodman told a hearing on the Pentagon's 2006 China Military Power Report.