CHINA’s defence ministry made a thinly veiled attack on the U.S. on Tuesday for increasing tensions in the Asia-Pacific by ramping up its military presence and alliances in the region.
This is happening days after the top U.S. diplomat visited Beijing.
China is uneasy with what the U.S. has called the “rebalancing’’ of forces as Washington winds down the war in Afghanistan and renews its attention in the Asia-Pacific region.
China says the policy has emboldened Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam in longstanding territorial disputes.
China faces “multiple and complicated security threats’’ in spite of its growing influence, the Ministry of Defence said in its annual white paper, adding that the U.S. strategy meant “profound changes’’ for the region.
“There are some countries that are strengthening their Asia Pacific military alliances, expanding their military presence in the region and frequently making the situation there tenser,’’ the ministry said in the 40-page document, in a clear reference to the U.S…
Such moves “do not accord with the developments of the times and are not conducive towards maintaining regional peace and stability’’, ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told reporters.
The official People’s Liberation Army Daily went further, saying in a commentary on Monday China needed to beef up
its defences to deal with a hostile West bent on undermining it.
“Hostile Western forces have intensified their strategy to westernise and split China, and employed every possible
means to contain and control our country’s development,’’ it said.
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry defended the re-orientation of U.S. foreign policy towards Asia as he ended a trip to the region dominated by concerns about North Korea’s nuclear programme.
While China has been angered by North Korea’s behaviour, including its third nuclear test in February, it has also made clear it considers U.S. displays of force in response to Pyongyang’s behaviour to be a worrisome development.
China is North Korea’s most important diplomatic and financial backer – the two fought together in the 1950 to 1953 Korean War – although the ministry’s Yang would not be drawn on the subject aside from repeating a call for peace
and dialogue.
China’s own military moves have worried the region, too.
China unveiled another double-digit rise in military expenditure last month, to 119 billion dollars for 2013, and is
involved in protracted and often ugly disputes over a series of islands in the East and South China Seas.
“On the issues concerning China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, some neighbouring countries are taking actions that complicate or exacerbate the situation, and Japan is making trouble over the Diaoyu Islands
issue,’’ the white paper said.
The dispute with Japan over the uninhabited islands, which China calls the Diaoyu and Japan calls Senkaku, has escalated in recent months to the point where China and Japan have scrambled fighter jets and patrol ships shadow
each other.
The waters around the islands in the East China Sea are rich fishing grounds and have potentially huge oil and gas reserves.
Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines also have conflicting claims with China in parts of the South
China Sea.
China lays claim to almost the whole of the sea, which is criss-crossed by crucial shipping lanes.
The U.S. shift comes as China boosts military spending and builds submarines, surface ships and anti-ship ballistic missiles as part of its naval modernisation, and has tested emerging technology aimed at destroying missiles in
mid-air.
China has repeatedly said the world has nothing to fear from its military spending, which it says its needed for legitimate defensive purposes in a complex and changing world, and that the sums spent pale in comparison with U.S. defence expenditure.