Beijing is protesting new US draft defense budge, in which China is seen as a threat, according to a statement by the Chinese Ministry of National Defense. Strategic rivalry with Russia and China is designated as a priority in the US defense budget for fiscal year 2020, proposed by the White House.
The document notes that the budget strengthens the readiness and strike capabilities of the armed forces, giving priority to strategic rivalry with China and Russia, and also involves the allocation of funds to deter North Korea and Iran and counteract them.
“The United States, ignoring the facts, is hyping the conversations about the ‘Chinese military threat,’ which are filled with Cold War thinking. This does not correspond to the healthy development of bilateral China-US relations and relations between the armed forces of the two countries. We protest this,” the statement said.
China Department of Defense also noted that the US Department of Defense, each time trying to justify the military budget, likes to rely on “petty niggling”, trying to exaggerate threats from other countries in order to get more benefits for themselves.
“This is short-sighted and extremely dangerous. We urge the U.S. side to fully acknowledge the extreme sensitivity of the relevant issue, and extreme harmfulness of it.”
The Defense Ministry stressed that China’s military policy is exclusively defensive in nature, and the Chinese armed forces, inspired by their own strength, promote the construction of a modern army.
