Chinese military officials have rejected criticism by Washington that China’s rising military power is focused on countering the US and said US pressure was behind Australia’s bid to boost its defense spending.
US officials have increasingly spoken out about China’s military spending and the country’s lack of transparency. Australia announced last Saturday that it would buy 100 state-of-the-art US jet fighters and double the size of its modest submarine fleet to keep pace with military spending in Asia.
China said the US was behind Canberra’s move.
“The US has successfully coaxed Australia into approving a military budget of [US]$70 billion to boost its defenses over the next 20 years,” the Global Times quoted Zhang Zhaozhong (張召忠), a rear admiral in the People’s Liberation Army Navy, as saying yesterday.
An unidentified Chinese Defense Ministry official, meanwhile, told the newspaper that recent remarks by Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, were “irresponsible and worked to the disadvantage of the development of Sino-US military relations.”
Earlier this week, Mullen said China’s increasing military strength seemed to be focused on counterbalancing the US’ presence in Asia.
“They are developing capabilities that are very maritime focused, maritime and air focused, and in many ways, very much focused on us,” Mullen said in Washington. “They seem very focused on the United States Navy and our bases that are in that part of the world.”
Mullen said “every country in the world has got a right to develop their military as they see fit to provide for their own security,” but added that the US and its allies needed to cooperate to figure out how to work with China to avoid miscalculations.
Beijing has bristled at the criticism, saying its military spending was on par with its economic growth and defense needs, and its budget remains only a fraction of the Pentagon’s.
“The US has to create an imaginary enemy to find excuses to develop its military might,” Li Jie (李傑), a military expert on the Navy, was quoted as saying in the Global Times, which is connected to the Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Daily. “How on earth can China threaten the US?”
Last year, China announced a military budget of US$61 billion, up nearly 18 percent year-on-year.
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