China flays US report on military capabilities

China also expressed ‘strong dissatisfaction’ and ‘firm opposition’ to the annual report, which it said, has misrepresented the country’ military development. 

In its report submitted to the Congress on Friday, the Defence Department noted that China is using ‘coercive tactics’ and fostering regional tensions as it expands its maritime presence in the disputed South China Sea (SCS) and elsewhere. It said 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 the Defence Spokesman Col Yang Yujun accusing the Pentagon’s annual report as misrepresentation of its military development. 

The report on China’s military has ‘severely damaged’ mutual trust between the two sides, Yang said, urging the US side to take tangible actions to promote healthy and stable development of relations between the two countries.

The US which accused the Chinese military of lacking in transparency, ‘deliberately distorted’ China’s defence policies, and ‘unfairly depicted’ its activities, Yang said.