China mentioned the report was the newest instance of US scaremongering. (File)
Beijing:
China on Wednesday condemned a Pentagon report for claiming Beijing needs to double its stockpile of nuclear warheads inside a decade because it seeks to discourage the US from any intervention linked to Taiwan.
The Pentagon’s annual study on China’s army energy issued Tuesday mentioned it has already matched or outstripped the US army in a number of areas of defence.
It added that the People’s Liberation Army goals to be able to win any battle with the US over self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing considers a part of its territory.
China’s defence ministry referred to as the report “totally improper” and a misinterpretation of Beijing’s “defence coverage and army technique”.
The report “defamed China’s army modernisation, defence expenditure, nuclear coverage and different points”, the ministry mentioned in a press release.
The 2 superpowers are locked in a broad energy wrestle sweeping in commerce, expertise, defence and political affect.
Beijing mentioned the report was the newest instance of US scaremongering to justify its personal army spending — the very best on the earth.
“China has all the time pursued a defensive nationwide defence coverage and everybody is aware of that China is a builder of world peace,” overseas ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying advised reporters on Wednesday.
The Pentagon report mentioned China is set to mission its energy eastward into the Pacific past Taiwan and to squeeze the US out of the area.
China has in flip blamed Washington, which has army bases throughout the Pacific, for rising tensions in Asia.
Tensions between the 2 superpowers have simmered over the South China Sea in latest weeks, the place China asserts territorial claims disputed by neighbours together with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Taiwan.
The Pentagon mentioned final month that Chinese language drills involving ballistic missile launches within the sea threatened regional safety.
Beijing, in the meantime, has blasted the “tyrannical” blacklisting by Washington of two dozen state-owned Chinese language firms concerned in constructing China’s regional bases.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
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