BEIJING, Nov. 6 -- “China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to the report on Chinese military and security developments released by the U.S. Department of Defense,” said Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense (MND) on November 5, 2021.
The U.S. Department of Defense released its annual report on Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on November 4, 2021. The report disregarded facts and was fraught with bias, made false remarks on China's national defense policy and military strategy, and fabricated the so-called "Chinese military threat", said Senior Colonel Wu Qian. The report also made groundless accusations against China's nuclear capability development, and interfered in China's internal affairs involving Taiwan and other issues, Wu said. “China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to the report, and has made solemn representations to the U.S. side,” said Wu.
Wu said that China firmly pursues a national defense policy that is defensive in nature and a military strategy of active defense, China's military development is aimed at safeguarding the country's sovereignty, security and development interests, and smashing any plot that endangers the regional peace, stability and prosperity. It does not target any country, nor does it pose a threat to any other country, he added.
In recent years, the Chinese military has actively served the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and provided the international community with public security products such as peacekeeping, escort, anti-epidemic and humanitarian assistance, demonstrating the sense of responsibility of the military of a major country, as well as injecting strong positive energy into world peace and regional stability, Wu said. Both history and reality have proved that the development of the Chinese military has brought the world security rather than threats, opportunities rather than challenges, Wu added.
In recent years, the U.S. has accelerated the development of its military capabilities in multi-fields including nuclear, outer space, cyber warfare, and hypersonic technology, brazenly withdrawn from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) and the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems (ABM), established a tripartite security partnership with the U.K. and Australia to carry out nuclear submarine cooperation, artificially creating serious risks of nuclear proliferation and causing tremendous shocks on the international nuclear non-proliferation system, Wu stated. “As we all know, the United States has the largest nuclear arsenal in the world, whereas it is still upgrading its nuclear power and lowering the nuclear threshold”, Wu said. “The United States is the largest source of nuclear threat across the globe,” Wu stressed.
In addition, the U.S. is the only country that has been blocking for years the relaunch of negotiations for a protocol that includes a verification regime to strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), said Wu, adding that the U.S. has deployed more than 200 American bio-labs outside its territory, and has not completed the destruction of its stockpiled chemical weapons so far, all of these have caused major threats to world peace and security. What should be pointed out in particular is that the U.S. side still owes the international community a clear account on the truth about its nuclear-powered submarine USS Connecticut’s collision incident, Wu said.
On the issue of territorial sovereignty and maritime rights disputes, China’s position is clear and definite. The Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands are an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands and reefs in the South China Sea and their adjacent waters, Wu stressed. Wu expressed that the Chinese side always advocates peaceful settlement of disputes through negotiation and consultation, and firmly opposes interference and intervention by countries outside the region.
Wu reiterated that there is only one China in the world, and Taiwan has been a sacred and inalienable part of Chinese territory since ancient times. For a period of time, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority has continuously taken provocations to seek "Taiwan independence" under the connivance of external forces, which is the root cause of destruction of peace and stability and escalation of tensions in the Taiwan Strait, Wu said.
“China firmly oppose the United States playing the “Taiwan card”, opposes any external forces intervening in Taiwan affairs, and opposes the DPP authority’s attempts to bank on the support of the U.S. in seeking "Taiwan independence," Wu said. The Chinese nation has a glorious tradition of opposing secession and safeguarding unity, for any moves by the DPP authority to split Taiwan from the motherland, and any external forces stirring up tensions in the Taiwan Strait and deliberately creating regional crises, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will deal them head-on blows with strong determination, firm will, and strong ability, Wu said.
For more than 20 years, the U.S. side has been deliberately cooking up the so-called report on Military and Security Developments Involving the PRC year after year, which is a blatant hegemony behavior, Wu said. “Here, we must warn sternly the U.S. side that any attempts and acts of interfering in China's internal affairs or bullying against China are doomed to failure before the Great Wall of steel of the PLA,” the defense spokesperson said.