China called the U.S. Defense Department's annual report on the Chinese military as being a deliberate distortion that has "severely damaged" mutual trust and have severely condemned the report. The Chinese response was released on Sunday.
China is expected to add substantial military infrastructure, including communications and surveillance systems, to artificial islands in the South China Sea this year, claimed the US in its annual report to Congress on Chinese military activities that was prepared by the U.S. Defense Department and was released n Friday.
Claiming that the report has "severely damaged mutual trust", state news agency Xinhua reported China's Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun as expressing "strong dissatisfaction" and "firm opposition" to the Pentagon report.
Yang was quoted in the report as saying that the report had "deliberately distorted" Chinese defense policies and had in fact "hyped up" China's military threat and had "unfairly" depicted Chinese activities in the East and South China seas.
"China follows a national defense policy that is defensive in nature," Yang was quoted in the media report to be saying. Maintaining sovereignty, security and territorial integrity and guaranteeing China's peaceful development were the aims of the country's military build-up and reforms, Yang added as quoted in the report.
It is the United States that flexing its military muscle by frequently sending military aircraft and warships to the region, Yang said adding that it was the US that has always been suspicious.
Yang added that the U.S. has pushed forward militarization of the South China Sea with an "intention to exert hegemony" despite its calls for freedom of navigation and restraint for peace.
Long-term "civil-military bases" in the contested waters would become available to China by the planned addition of military infrastructure, the Pentagon report had said.
More than 3,200 acres (1,300 hectares) of land on seven features it occupied in the Spratly Islands in the space of two years have been added according ot estimates by the reclamation work of China in the area.
China’s efforts in the disputed sea area had switched focus to infrastructure development, including three 9,800 foot-long (3,000 meter) airstrips that can accommodate advanced fighter jets after the country had completed its major reclamation efforts in October, the Pentagon report had noted.
The construction serves mostly civilian purposes and helps fulfill China's international responsibilities and obligations by providing more public goods, Yang, the spokesman, said defending the constructions.
There has been heightened tension over maritime territories claimed by China and disputed by several Asian nations in recent months and the Pentagon report comes amidst that environment.
In a charge that Beijing has denied on several occasions, the U.S report placed renewed accusations against China's government and military for cyber attacks against U.S. government computer systems. The Pentagon said attacks in 2015 appeared focused on intelligence collection.
(Source: www.reuters.com)
China is expected to add substantial military infrastructure, including communications and surveillance systems, to artificial islands in the South China Sea this year, claimed the US in its annual report to Congress on Chinese military activities that was prepared by the U.S. Defense Department and was released n Friday.
Claiming that the report has "severely damaged mutual trust", state news agency Xinhua reported China's Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun as expressing "strong dissatisfaction" and "firm opposition" to the Pentagon report.
Yang was quoted in the report as saying that the report had "deliberately distorted" Chinese defense policies and had in fact "hyped up" China's military threat and had "unfairly" depicted Chinese activities in the East and South China seas.
"China follows a national defense policy that is defensive in nature," Yang was quoted in the media report to be saying. Maintaining sovereignty, security and territorial integrity and guaranteeing China's peaceful development were the aims of the country's military build-up and reforms, Yang added as quoted in the report.
It is the United States that flexing its military muscle by frequently sending military aircraft and warships to the region, Yang said adding that it was the US that has always been suspicious.
Yang added that the U.S. has pushed forward militarization of the South China Sea with an "intention to exert hegemony" despite its calls for freedom of navigation and restraint for peace.
Long-term "civil-military bases" in the contested waters would become available to China by the planned addition of military infrastructure, the Pentagon report had said.
More than 3,200 acres (1,300 hectares) of land on seven features it occupied in the Spratly Islands in the space of two years have been added according ot estimates by the reclamation work of China in the area.
China’s efforts in the disputed sea area had switched focus to infrastructure development, including three 9,800 foot-long (3,000 meter) airstrips that can accommodate advanced fighter jets after the country had completed its major reclamation efforts in October, the Pentagon report had noted.
The construction serves mostly civilian purposes and helps fulfill China's international responsibilities and obligations by providing more public goods, Yang, the spokesman, said defending the constructions.
There has been heightened tension over maritime territories claimed by China and disputed by several Asian nations in recent months and the Pentagon report comes amidst that environment.
In a charge that Beijing has denied on several occasions, the U.S report placed renewed accusations against China's government and military for cyber attacks against U.S. government computer systems. The Pentagon said attacks in 2015 appeared focused on intelligence collection.
(Source: www.reuters.com)
