China’s Foreign Ministry says a U.S. report is defying the facts and painting an unfair picture of China’s military involvement in the South China Sea.
According to a statement released on Sunday, the Chinese think the Americans are hopelessly stuck framing the world in Cold War terms.
The U.S. report, released last Friday by the Department of Defense, looks at China’s naval modernization with a specific focus on overreaching activity in the South China Sea, noting that Beijing “uses a progression of small, incremental steps to increase its effective control over disputed territories and avoid escalation to military conflict.” One particular example highlighted is the employment of Chinese Coast Guard vessels for “low-intensity” coercion in all disputed areas, as opposed to full military escalation. The report argues that China’s goal is complete acceptance of all territorial claims, which span to 90 percent of the South China Sea. (RELATED: Congress Raises Alarm As Obama Ignores Chinese Expansion In South China Sea)
For China’s Foreign Ministry, this assessment is beyond the pale and threatens bilateral relations between the two powers.