China is continuing reforms in its military as it sets up anti-corruption units in various military departments and commands. (Photo : Reuters)
A Pentagon report released on Friday incited outcry from China after it reportedly exaggerated the country’s military activities and distorted reality, severely damaging ties.
Pentagon has recently submitted a report to the United States' Congress about China's military activities and increased activity in the contested territories along the South China Sea.
According to the report, China's recent moves in investing more in "military and weaponry operations continue on a path to increase its power projection."
VICE News said this made China angry, with Defense Ministry spokesperson Yang Yujun declaring the country's "strong dissatisfaction" and "firm opposition" to the report.
The Pentagon Report
The report posted on the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense revealed that China had been busy making sure that no other nation is able to infiltrate the hotly disputed territories along the South China Sea and the country's cyberspace.
According to deputy assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia Abraham M. Denmark, the report is factual and that the information stated therein "speak for themselves."
"From 2006 to 2015, China's officially disclosed military budget grew at an average of 9.8 percent per year in inflation-adjusted terms," he said, but revealed that there are some major expense data that was left out of the official documents.
"The true expenditure, DoD estimates, in terms of total military-related spending for 2015, exceeded $180 billion in 2015," he declared.
He also revealed that China had been concentrating on maintaining status quo along the Taiwan Strait, where possible conflict might emerge due to the island's radical change in government.
In terms of maritime disputes, Denmark said that China showed "willingness to tolerate higher levels of tension."
"China's strategy is to secure its objectives without jeopardizing the regional peace that has enabled its military and economic development, which in turn has maintained the Chinese Communist Party's grip on power," he added.
China's Reaction
China did not like the U.S. report on their military activities because it "hyped up" the supposed threat that the country possesses and "unfairly depicted" their activities along the contested territories in the East China Sea and South China Sea, per a report from state-run Xinhua News Agency.
"China follows a national defense policy that is defensive in nature," Yang said. "Moves such as deepening military reforms and the military buildup are aimed at maintaining sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, and guaranteeing China's peaceful development."
The outlet then turned the tables and declared that it was the U.S. who had been "flexing military muscles," citing how the Western country frequently sent warships and military aircraft in the disputed regions.
Furthermore, Yang's statement on Xinhua further noted that the report "has severely damaged mutual trust between the two sides" and called for the U.S. to promote "healthy and stable development of relations" between Washington and Beijing.
