US report on China's military is proof of 'smear campaign'

A Chinese defense spokesman on Sunday expressed firm opposition to a recent report released by the US Department of Defense.

Wu Qian, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said the 150-page report titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2020” is further proof of the US intent to smear China and its military. China deplores and firmly opposes the action by the US side, Wu said.

The report deliberately distorted relations between the Communist Party of China and the Chinese military, misinterpreted China’s national defense policy and military strategies, and hyped up the so-called “Chinese military threat,” Wu said.

The US side issued such reports in the past 20 consecutive years, Wu said, describing it as a blatant act of hegemony and provocation that has severely hurt bilateral and military-to-military relations.

China has lodged stern representations with the US side, Wu added, calling the report a “wanton distortion” of China’s aims and relationship between the People’s Liberation Army and China’s 1.4 billion people.

Stressing that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is the people’s armed forces under the CPC leadership, Wu said upholding the Party’s leadership is the soul of the PLA and the PLA is committed to whole-heartedly serving the people.

China follows the path of peaceful development and adheres to a national defense policy that is defensive in nature, said Wu, adding that China’s military development is aimed at safeguarding the country’s sovereignty, security and development interests.

“It does not target any country, nor does it pose a threat to any other country,” Wu said.

Much of the report was devoted to analyzing strategy toward Taiwan. Wu reiterated that there is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. He said tensions across the Taiwan Strait are primarily caused by the Democratic Progressive Party’s attempts to bank on foreign support and use of force to resist reunification, as well as the external anti-China elements’ attempts to use Taiwan to contain and divide China.

“Many years of evidence shows that it is the US that is the fomenter of regional unrest, the violator of the international order and the destroyer of world peace,” he said.

US actions in Iraq, Syria, Libya and other countries over the past two decades have resulted in the deaths of more than 800,000 people and displacement of millions, Wu said.

“Rather than reflecting on itself, the US issued a so-called report that made false comments about China’s normal defense and military construction,” he said in the statement. “We call on the US to view China’s national defense and military construction objectively and rationally, cease making false statements and related reports, and take concrete actions to safeguard the healthy development of bilateral military relations.”

Wu said the Chinese military will faithfully put to practice the vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity, firmly safeguard the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, actively take part in regional security cooperation, and promptly provide international public security goods.

“The Chinese military is committed to safeguarding world peace, contributing to global development, and upholding international order,” Wu said.

The report comes as relations between China and the US have hit their lowest ebb in decades amid simmering disputes over issues like trade, Taiwan and the South China Sea.