Beijing criticizes US report on Chinese military
8 hours ago
Wochit
Chinese Military Spending Exceeds $145 Billion, Drones Advanced: U.S.
BEIJING (AP) — China said Friday that its military is purely
for defense and criticized a Pentagon report for saying that big budget
increases have boosted the Chinese military's ability to project
military power abroa
China's armed forces are for defending the
country's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity and are a
"force for world peace," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a
regularly scheduled news briefing.
"We hope the US can shake off bias, view the development of China's defense capability objectively and rationally, stop issuing the relevant reports, and make concrete efforts in China-US military cooperation," Hong said.
China views the U.S. Defense Department's annual report to Congress about China as unwarranted interference in its internal affairs and a smear on its reputation. Separately, China's official Xinhua News Agency said the Pentagon report was "filled with flawed facts," but offered no examples.
The Pentagon report said China is developing new types of missiles, expanding the reach of its navy and upgrading its air force. It said China also is investing heavily in cyberspace, space and electronic warfare.
While China's military modernization is primarily driven by potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait, it also seeks to defend China's expanding interests and influence abroad, along with increased tensions in the East China and South China Seas, the report said. Last November, China conducted its largest naval exercise to date in the Philippine Sea.
"We hope the US can shake off bias, view the development of China's defense capability objectively and rationally, stop issuing the relevant reports, and make concrete efforts in China-US military cooperation," Hong said.
China views the U.S. Defense Department's annual report to Congress about China as unwarranted interference in its internal affairs and a smear on its reputation. Separately, China's official Xinhua News Agency said the Pentagon report was "filled with flawed facts," but offered no examples.
The Pentagon report said China is developing new types of missiles, expanding the reach of its navy and upgrading its air force. It said China also is investing heavily in cyberspace, space and electronic warfare.
While China's military modernization is primarily driven by potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait, it also seeks to defend China's expanding interests and influence abroad, along with increased tensions in the East China and South China Seas, the report said. Last November, China conducted its largest naval exercise to date in the Philippine Sea.
China has
territorial disputes with several of its neighbors, including U.S.
allies Japan and the Philippines. China is currently locked in a tense,
offshore standoff with the Vietnam.
China
in March announced a 12.2 percent increase in military spending to $132
billion, the second-highest defense budget for any nation behind the
U.S., which spent $600.4 billion on its military last year.
In
one example of the benefits of such spending, China's navy commissioned
17 new warships last year, the most of any nation. It's expected to
have three aircraft carriers in a little more than a decade, giving it
more clout than ever in a region of contested seas and festering
territorial disputes.
Its
spending boom is attracting new scrutiny at a time of severe cuts in
U.S. defense budgets that have some questioning Washington's commitments
to its Asian allies.
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