China flays US report, says it damages trust

China on Sunday accused the US of “severely damaging” mutual trust as it hit back at the Pentagon for issuing a “hyped up” report on Chinese military capabilities that “deliberately distorts” its defence policies.

China also expressed “strong dissatisfaction” and “firm opposition” to the annual report, submitted to the Congress on Friday, where a senior defence department official had said, “We have noticed an increase in capability and force posture by the Chinese military in areas close to the border with India.”

China noted that the report misrepresented the country’ military development by accusing them of using “coercive tactics” and fostering regional tensions as it expands its maritime presence in the disputed South China Sea (SCS) and elsewhere.

The report further said that China is focussing on the militarisation of artificial islands built by it in the SCS in a bid to assert its control.

China hit back, with defence spokesperson Colonel Yang Yujun accusing the Pentagon’s annual report as misrepresentation of its military development that “hypes up China’s military threat”.

The report on China’s military and security developments has “severely damaged” mutual trust between the two sides, Mr Yang said, urging the US to take tangible actions to promote the healthy and stable development of relations between the two countries and their armed forces.

The US which had accused the Chinese military of lacking in transparency, “deliberately distorted” China’s defence policies, and “unfairly depicted” its activities in the East China Sea and SCS, Mr Yang said.

“China follows a national defence policy that is defensive in nature...,” he said, adding that the US has always been suspicious.

In his statement, he said it is the US which has been flexing military muscles by frequently sending military aircraft and warships to the region.

Despite its call for the freedom of navigation and restraint for peace, the US pushed forward the militarisation in the SCS with an intention to exert hegemony, Yang said.

China has unswervingly made contributions to global peace and stability by increasingly engaging in overseas missions such as peace-keeping and disaster relief, he added.

Yang stressed China’s construction on the Nansha (Spratly) Islands in the SCS serves mostly civilian purposes, and helps fulfil its international responsibilities and obligations by providing more public goods.

The SCS has become a major flash point for military tensions between China and the US in recent years as Beijing which claims sovereignty over almost all of the disputed waters sought to assert its claim by building artificial islands with military facilities. The Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan contest China’s claims.