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China slams Pentagon report

— Photo: Xinhua

Peace mission: Chinese naval destroyer “Guangzhou” returns after participating in the 10-day “AMAN 09” exercise in the Arabian Sea. Some 20 warships from 12 countries carried out exercises like going past mines, anti-terror operations and night encounters from March 5-14. AMAN in Urdu means peace.

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon released its annual report on Chinese military power on Wednesday, “turning a blind eye to China’s long-held peaceful defence policy and ever increasing military openness”.

In the largely subjective report with distorted facts and groundless speculation, the Pentagon alleged that “China continues to promulgate incomplete defence expenditure figures and engage in actions that appear inconsistent with its declaratory policies.” It claimed that “the limited transparency in China’s military and security affairs poses risks to stability by creating uncertainty and increasing the potential for misunderstanding and miscalculation,” adding that China left unclear to the international community the purposes and objectives of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) evolving doctrine and capabilities.

In a recent interview, Luo Yuan, a PLA Major-General and a researcher with the Beijing-based Academy of Military Sciences, pointed out that the accusations of the so-called “lack of transparency” of China’s military were baseless.

“It’s not an issue of transparency here, but rather one of trust,” he said.

In other significant moves to increase its military openness and transparency, China, in the past years, has invited military representatives from many countries to observe PLA war games, conducted joint military exercises with neighbouring countries and enhanced personnel exchanges and dialogue between the PLA and foreign armies.

The 78-page Pentagon report, entitled “Military Power of the People’s Republic of China,” also interfered with China’s internal affairs by making “irresponsible comments” on the situation across the Taiwan Straits.

The Pentagon report acknowledged that the Chinese military has contributed to global peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, and called for more dialogue between U.S. and Chinese militaries. — Xinhua

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