Defense spokesperson says China firmly opposes U.S. report on its military development

Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, on Saturday expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to a recent report on China's military and security developments released by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Zhang said the report distorted China's national defense policy and grossly interfered in China's internal affairs, speculated on China's military development, and tried their best to discredit the Chinese military and hype up the so-called "Chinese military threat."

China is committed to the path of peaceful development and pursues a defensive national defense policy, Zhang said, noting that the United States has illegally launched wars and military operations against Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and other countries, resulting in severe humanitarian disasters, so the U.S. has become the No.1 destroyer of the international order and the biggest threat to global security.

China adheres to the nuclear strategy of self-defense and the nuclear policy of no-first-use (NFU) of nuclear weapons and has always kept its nuclear force at the minimum level required for national security, Zhang continued.

However, the trilateral cooperation among the U.S., the UK and Australia on nuclear-powered submarines seriously impacts the international nuclear non-proliferation system and undermines international and regional peace and stability, Zhang added.

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

China hopes that the U.S. works with it to view the development of China and its armed forces in a positive, rational manner, takes peace, stability and trust as the basic principles of military-to-military exchanges, and builds a military-to-military relationship featuring no conflict, no confrontation, open and pragmatic cooperation, and gradual accumulation of mutual trust on the basis of equality and respect in order to truly build a stable foundation for the development of bilateral relations, the spokesperson noted.

The U.S. side, however, issues such irresponsible reports year after year, Zhang said, and the Chinese side urged the U.S. side to stop fabricating false narratives, correct its erroneous perceptions of China and promote the healthy, stable development of relations between the militaries of the two countries.