The Chinese Ministry of National Defense reiterated on Thursday that China has no intention to challenge any country.
Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesperson for the ministry pointed out that the worst enemy of the U.S. is the U.S. itself, in response to questions on U.S. National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2025, which announced a defense budget of up to $895.2 billion for the next fiscal year and identified China as one of the major challenges to the U.S. national security.
The U.S. military expenditure has already topped the world for long, and is still increasing rapidly year by year, which fully exposes the belligerent nature of the U.S. and its obsession with hegemony and expansion, Zhang said.
“It’s clear to all that many current wars and conflicts are a result of U.S. policy failures,” Zhang said, adding that the wars and military operations launched by the U.S. since 2001 have caused more than hundreds of thousands of deaths and millions of injuries, and displaced tens of millions of people.
“The U.S.’ abuse of force not only brings harm to the world, but also accelerates its own decline,” said Zhang.
The spokesperson also noted that the U.S. NDAA played up the alleged “China military threat” as an excuse to increase U.S. military spending and maintain its hegemony. “This grossly interferes with China’s internal affairs and undermines world peace and stability. We are strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to it.”
Our planet is big enough for both China and the U.S. to develop individually and collectively, Zhang said.
He added China remains committed to the path of peaceful development and a defense policy that is defensive in nature. “We do not engage in any arms race with any other country, and always serve as a defender for world peace.”
The spokesperson urged the U.S. side to abandon Cold-War mentality and zero-sum mindset, and get rid of its obsessive delusion of containing and outcompeting China, so as not to undermine the bilateral and mil-to-mil relations between China and the U.S.
Zhang vowed that with stronger capacities and more reliable methods, the Chinese military will take resolute countermeasures against any infringements and provocations to safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests.