US report on Chinese military a 'gross distortion'

Beijing has responded furiously to the Pentagon’s annual global military assessment, which warns of China’s growing military power and its effects on the region, accusing the report of “making groundless accusations”.China said Thursday that a Pentagon report warning of Beijing's growing military power distorted the truth and urged the United States to stop issuing the annual assessment or risk harming relations."This report issued by the US side continues to play up the fallacy of the so-called China military threat," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told journalists in Beijing."This is a gross distortion of the facts... and China resolutely opposes it." Qin also said the United States should stop issuing the annual report and cease "making groundless accusations against China so as not to further damage the two sides' military relations."The Pentagon said in its yearly report to Congress on China's military that its pursuit of sophisticated weaponry was altering Asia's military balance and could be used to enforce Beijing's claims over disputed territories.China has kept up major investment in its armed forces and made advances in high-tech weaponry that outpace other countries in the region, the defence department said in the report issued Wednesday.It said China was developing technologies for nuclear, space and cyber warfare that were "changing regional military balances and that have implications beyond the Asia-Pacific region."The build-up could allow China to "project power to ensure access to resources or enforce claims to disputed territories," the report said.Apart from its traditional focus on deterring Taiwan's independence, China was raising its capacity to carry out extended air operations in the South China Sea, it said.