Washington/Beijing: ‘The defence headquarters of the United States, the Pentagon, has made a serious allegation in a recently published report saying that ‘China is preparing its military to take control of the disputed marine region. It is also training its pilots to carry out attacks on the United States.’ China has refuted this allegation by Pentagon and the Chinese defence ministry has criticised that the allegations are speculative. This has added to the already brewing tension between the United States and China on the account of trade war.
Pentagon has prepared the annual report for the year 2017, regarding the Chinese military’s activities. Pentagon has submitted this report to the US Congress and has said that there is a threat from China to the interests of the United States. The Pentagon has referred to the Chinese military activities in the last few years to substantiate these observations. ‘The Chinese People’s Liberation Army has increased the sorties of its bombers in the marine region over the last three years. These sorties of Chinese bombers are a cause concern in the disputed marine region. China is training its pilots to attack the United States and its allies to take control of this marine region,’ alleged Pentagon in its report.
Pentagon had criticised the Chinese military movements in South China Sea even in the past. It had also alleged that militarisation of the artificial islands built by China in the region, is a threat to the marine transport. But this year’s report says that the Chinese bombers are being armed with nuclear weapons. Pentagon has claimed that China is issuing warnings to its opponents with the deployment of these bombers equipped with nuclear weapons. The report also says that China is preparing to build floating atomic projects in the South China Sea region.
China who had been focused on the preparedness of its military so far is now focused upon the level of preparedness of the Chinese Navy. Chinese President, Xi Jinping had announced that the Chinese Navy will be modernised. At the same time, he had justified the militarization of the artificial islands in the South China Sea. The US defence headquarters has thrown some light on this matter. However, the Pentagon report is not acceptable to China. The Chinese defence ministry and the government mouthpiece have criticised this report.
The Chinese defence ministry has claimed that the Pentagon report is based only on guesswork and speculation, and the United States does not have any evidence to substantiate their claim. The Chinese defence ministry also refuted the allegation that the Chinese bombers were being trained to attack the United States. China further claimed that the modernisation of the Chinese military is purely for defensive reasons and no country needs to feel threatened by it.
Meanwhile, tension is raging between the United States and China, over the issues of the South China Sea, the trade war and Taiwan. A Chinese delegation was scheduled to visit the United States for discussions regarding the trade war, but before it could happen, the Pentagon has reprimanded China by publishing the report.
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