Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian has slammed a commentary by U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper as baseless. The Wall Street Journal ran the piece on Monday, with the title "The Pentagon is Prepared for China." Esper accused the Chinese military of threatening a free and open international system. Zhao dismissed the claim and highlighted China's commitment to peace. He said the Chinese military has taken part in more than 20 UN peacekeeping operations since 1990, and sent out the most peacekeeping forces, among the five permanent members of the Security Council. He said, in contrast, in the more than two centuries since the U.S. was founded, there were only 16 years when the country was not at war.