US should not criticise 'limited' military expansion:China

Beijing, May 20: China today expressed its "firm opposition" to a Pentagon report that presented a suspicious account of China's military modernisation, charging that the US was misrepresenting its "limited" defence capabilities.

Lashing out at the Pentagon report on the rapid expansion of Chinese military and its aggressive cyber espionage, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, "China's justified" and "normal military development" had been unjustly criticised in the US side's irresponsible remarks.

Hong said the US was misrepresenting its "limited" defence force aimed at safeguarding its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and expressed China's "firm opposition" to it.

"The development of China's limited military force is completely concerned with safeguarding China's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and targets no other country or specific target," the official media here quoted him as saying.

"So long as a country is not hostile to China, it will show no doubt or worry over such development," he said. China demands that the United States "respect facts, change its mind-set and stop its wrongdoing in issuing similar reports year after year," and the US side "should do more to promote China-US military relations and mutual trust and cooperation, not vice versa," he said.

The US Defence Department issued the annual report "Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China" yesterday, stating that Chinese military has embarked on ambitious expansion programme aimed at transforming the People's Liberation Army(PLA) into a modern force.

The report says that the PLA's main goals include preserving the rule of the Communist Party of China and getting ready for hostilities against Taiwan which China claims as its part.

PTI