China hit out yesterday at a Pentagon report on its expanding military capabilities as other Asian nations said they would be keeping a wary eye on their giant neighbor’s growing might.
Beijing said the US Department of Defense report was “not beneficial” for military ties between the two major powers, while state media branded the dossier “aggressive” and said it exaggerated the power of China’s armed forces.
Geng Yansheng (耿雁生), spokesman for China’s defense ministry, said the country was on a “path of peaceful development.”
“Issuing this report is not beneficial for the improvement and development of Sino-US military ties,” he said in a statement.
The Pentagon report to the US Congress said China’s military strategists were looking to extend their reach to be able to hit targets as far away as mainland Japan, the Philippines and the US territory of Guam.
Beijing was ramping up investment in a range of areas including nuclear weapons, long-range missiles, submarines, aircraft carriers and cyber warfare, according to the report published on Monday.
China demanded that Washington stop issuing such reports.
“China ... firmly abides by a defensive national defense policy, does not take part in military confrontation and does not pose a military threat to any country,” Geng said.
“We ask the United States ... to stop remarks and behavior that are not beneficial for mutual trust between the two militaries and Sino-US relations,” he said.
China’s state-run media carried a barrage of comments from experts on the issue, blasting what they called an “aggressive” Pentagon report.
Meng Xiangqing (孟祥青), a professor at the National Defense University, told the Global Times: “The interfering nature of the report remains unchanged. It will surely draw discontent from China over its exaggeration of its military power.”
China’s military expansion comes alongside its surging economic growth, which saw it overtake Japan as the world’s second-largest economy in the second quarter, and the international community has been pushing China to take a more active role in addressing issues such as climate change and trade imbalances.
The Pentagon said China’s military build-up in the Taiwan Strait had “continued unabated,” despite better ties with Taipei.
Taiwan on Tuesday repeated its call for the US to sell it advanced F-16 jet fighters and diesel submarines in the face of China’s much stronger military.
“China has not given up the use of force against Taiwan and we are closely monitoring China’s military developments. We ask the public to rest assured,” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Yu Sy-tue (虞思祖) said Taipei.
Following the report, Tokyo said it would “keep paying attention to China’s military trend.”
“It will have a significant impact on security in the region, including Japan, and on the international community,” a Japanese defense ministry spokeswoman said.
Japan and Vietnam, which both have historic tensions with China, have reported incidents with China’s military in recent months and the Pentagon predicted Beijing may step up patrols in the South China Sea. Against this backdrop, the US and Vietnam — former foes who only normalized diplomatic ties 15 years ago — held their first high-level defense dialogue on Tuesday.
Hanoi and Beijing are involved in a territorial dispute over islands in the South China Sea.
Last month, China reacted angrily after US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said resolution of those territorial rows — which also involve other nations — was “pivotal” to regional stability.
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