A Chinese defense spokesperson on Friday expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to a recent report on China's military development released by the U.S. Department of Defense. 

Wu Qian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, said the report disregards facts and is fraught with bias, adding the Chinese side has lodged solemn representations with the United States. 

Wu pointed out report hyped up the non-existent "Chinese military threat," speculated on China's military development in nuclear, space, cyber and other fields and interfered with China's internal affairs by pointing fingers on the Taiwan question. 

China is committed to the path of peaceful development, pursues a defense policy that is defensive in nature and opposes practice of the big and strong bullying the small and weak, the spokesperson stressed.

In the 240-plus-year history of the U.S., there were only 16 years when the country was not at war with others, Wu said and added the U.S. operates over 800 military bases in 80 countries and regions.

Facts have proved that the U.S. is the "fundamental source of chaos" of the international order, the "mastermind behind the scenes" of world turbulence and the "biggest destroyer" of regional peace and stability, he said.

Wu said China has kept nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required by national security while the U.S. in recent years has withdrawn from legal instruments in arms control such as the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, kept upgrading its "nuclear triad," and intended to deploy land-based intermediate range missiles in the Europe and Asia-Pacific.

The U.S. side's manipulation of the nuclear issue and its double standards in nuclear issue are merely pretexts for expanding its own nuclear arsenal and maintaining its military hegemony, he added.

In terms of the tension in the Taiwan Straits, the spokesperson said the U.S. and Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities are the real "troublemakers."

It is legitimate, reasonable and lawful for China to take the necessary measures to defend its national territory and sovereignty, and the U.S. is in no position to say anything about it, he noted.

Wu urged the U.S. side to stop enhancing military contact with the Taiwan region or arming it by any means or under whatever pretext, stop creating factors that could heighten tensions in the Taiwan Straits, and stop conniving at and supporting the separatists' attempt to seek "Taiwan independence" by force. 

Stressing the relationship between the two militaries is an important part of the China-U.S. relationship, the Chinese spokesperson said the Chinese side attaches great importance to the relationship between the two militaries and has maintained frank and effective communication with the U.S. side through military diplomatic channels.

Wu also said the U.S. side ultimately creates the current difficulties between the two sides and urged the U.S. to stop fabricating false narratives, correct its erroneous perceptions of China, and promote the healthy and stable development of relations between the two countries' militaries with a sincere attitude and practical actions.

(Cover: File photo of Wu Qian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense. /Chinese Ministry of National Defense)