China yesterday condemned the US Department of Defense’s annual report on the Chinese military, calling it deliberate distortion that has “severely damaged” mutual trust.
In its annual report to the US Congress on Chinese military activities, the department on Friday said that China is expected to add substantial military infrastructure, including communications and surveillance systems, to artificial islands in the South China Sea this year.
Chinese Ministry of National Defense spokesman General Yang Yujun (楊宇軍) expressed “strong dissatisfaction” and “firm opposition” to the Pentagon report and said it has “severely damaged mutual trust,” Xinhua news agency reported.
The report “hyped up” China’s military threat and lack of transparency, “deliberately distorted” Chinese defense policies and “unfairly” depicted Chinese activities in the East China and South China seas, Yang was quoted as saying.
“China follows a national defense policy that is defensive in nature,” Yang said, adding that the nation’s military build-up and reforms are aimed at maintaining sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, and guaranteeing China’s peaceful development.
It is the US that has always been suspicious and flexing its military muscle by frequently sending military aircraft and warships to the region, Yang said.
Despite its calls for freedom of navigation and restraint for peace, the US has pushed forward militarization of the South China Sea with an “intention to exert hegemony,” Yang added.
The Pentagon report said the planned addition of military infrastructure would give China long-term “civil-military bases” in the contested waters.
It estimated that China’s reclamation work had added more than 1,300 hectares of land on seven features it occupies in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) in the space of two years.
Taiwan also claims the Spratlys.
The report said China completed its major reclamation efforts in October last year, switching focus to infrastructure development, including three 3,000m-long airstrips that can accommodate advanced fighter jets.
Yang defended the construction, saying it serves mostly civilian purposes and helps fulfil China’s international responsibilities and obligations by providing more public goods.
The Pentagon report came at a time of heightened tension over maritime territories claimed by China and disputed by several Asian nations, including Taiwan. Washington has accused Beijing of militarizing the South China Sea, while Beijing, in turn, has criticized increased US naval patrols and exercises in Asia.
The US report renewed accusations against China’s government and military for cyberattacks against US government computer systems, a charge Beijing denies.
The Pentagon said attacks last year appeared focused on intelligence collection.
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