Defense ministry hits back at US ‘smear’
Print Edition
THE commander of US forces in the Pacific smeared China while seeking additional defense funding amid rising tensions in the South China Sea, China’s defense ministry said yesterday.
Ministry spokesman Colonel Wu Qian strongly criticized Admiral Harry Harris Jr’s testimony before Congress, in which Harris said China was militarizing the economically and strategically vital waterway and seeking hegemony in East Asia.
China adamantly denies such accusations and says Washington and its allies are responsible for raising tensions.
“I have noted that according to media reports, Admiral Harris made his remarks while seeking additional defense budget funds from Congress,” Wu told reporters at a monthly news briefing. “We don’t interfere in your seeking defense budget funds, but you can’t carelessly smear China while asking for more money.”
In his testimony before the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Harris commented on the Chinese armed forces’ construction and extension of islands in the South China Sea.
China claims it is entitled, like any other nation, to deploy whatever defensive systems it sees fit on its island claims. Despite that endorsement of the sovereign rights of nations, Wu reiterated China’s strong opposition to the potential deployment in South Korea of a defensive missile defense system against North Korea.
China says the system’s radar coverage would extend into China, harming its national security interests. Harris said it was “preposterous” that China would try to “wedge itself” between South Korea and the US over the issue.
Despite raising fears of a confrontation at sea, the recent frictions don’t appear to be having a lasting effect on US-China military exchanges. Wu said China remained fully committed to taking part in this June’s Rim of the Pacific naval drills that the US Pacific Fleet hosts every two years.
“US-China military-to-military relations are maintaining stable development momentum,” Wu said.
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