US report on China's military baseless, counterproductive

The U.S. Department of Defense released on Monday a report on China, making groundless assessment on the Asian country's military and security development. This unwise move is not only self-contradictory as Washington has been claiming to boost military ties with China, but also harmful to the aspiration of both countries to forge a cooperative partnership based on mutual respect, mutual benefit and a win-win situation. The Annual Report on Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China (PRC) speculated that China's military modernization is designed to "improve the capacity of its armed forces to fight and win short-duration, high-intensity regional military conflict." By saying that China's military development "serves more narrowly-defined PRC interests and objectives, including advancing territorial claims," the report invoked Cold War thinking and zero-sum game mentality, and misjudged the nature of China's military investment. The drafters ignored the fact that China has repeatedly stated the defensive nature of its national defense policy. The latest of China's white papers, issued last month, made it clear that its armed forces have always been a staunch force to uphold world peace and regional stability. As a global economic power, China has a tremendous number of economic sea lanes to protect. China is justified to develop its military capabilities to safeguard its sovereignty and protect its vast interests around the world. Moreover, the report went further to interfere with China's internal affairs by commenting on the situation across the Taiwan Straits, claiming "the PLA (People's Liberation Army) has developed and deployed military capabilities to coerce Taiwan or to attempt an invasion, if necessary." The essence of the report contradicted the U.S.-China common understanding on developing military ties. During a January 2011 summit, U.S. President Barack Obama and then Chinese President Hu Jintao jointly affirmed that a "healthy, stable and reliable military-to-military relationship is an essential part of shared vision for a positive, cooperative and comprehensive U.S.-China relationship." If acting in accordance with the report, Washington could jeopardize mutual trust between the world's two largest economies and create obstacles in the development of their relationship, one of the world's most important dynamics. Besides, by highlighting China's alleged growing assertiveness with respect to maritime territorial claims, the report could embolden countries engaging in maritime disputes with China, sowing instability in the Asia-Pacific region. The groundless report said China is lack of transparency over its military expenses. On the contrary, China has issued eight white papers on national defense since 1998 to enhance its military's transparency and boost the world's trust in its commitment to peaceful development. It also accused China of cyber spying to gain information to benefit defense industries, military planners and government leaders. As a matter of fact, China has repeatedly stated its opposition to any forms of computer hacking and the country has called for global efforts to fight hacking. According to a recent National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team Coordination Center report, China's cyber security has come under increasingly severe threats, with the United States being the largest source of cyber attacks.