The US Department of Defense recently released the Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China, commonly known as the China Military Power Report. The report cooperates with the cognitive shaping of strategic competition with China, speculates on China'sstrategic intentions with a consistent Cold War mentality and tinted glasses, accuses China of its rights-defending actions, exaggerates the so-called "China military threat", misleads international public opinion and createsa negative impact on the relationship between the two countries and the two militaries.
The US regularly releases the China Military Power Report. On the surface, it is a prescribed action in accordance with the requirements of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000. However, it actually serves the needs of maintaining military hegemony, and is mixed with the US military's complicated interest calculations with multiple ulterior purposes:
It makes excuses for their own military development. The China Military Power Report is an important basis for the US to judge China's challenges and determine resource input. The US military works with military-industrial complex, in accordance with the usual practice of "inflating the opponent", mixes a lot of imaginary, hearsay, and even intentionally forged information to create alarmism. Their aim is to create a sense of panic and anxiety that China's military power is rapidly catching up with the US, in order toget greater military investment, develop more high-end equipment for future wars, and consolidate and enhance its global military advantages.
It establishes targets for its integrated ally system tree. Creating a common enemy is a common tactic used by the US to maintain its relationship with its allies. Some forces in the US are obsessed with hegemony mentality and Cold War mentality, and regard China as the most important strategic opponent and the most severe long-term challenge and strengthen the consensus of its allies and integrate the ally system by exaggerating the China threat. After the Biden administration took office, the US took advantage of the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict to further consolidate the transatlantic alliance. At the same time, it has spared no effort to hype China's "military expansion" to increase the centripetal force of its Indo-Pacific allies and promote the creation of an Asia-Pacific version of "NATO" to form a "system advantage" to contain China.
However, the report is full of mistakes, omissions and lies. Its sinister intentions of distorting the facts are clearly revealed.
It turns a blind eye to the efforts of the Chinese military to maintain regional peace and stability. The Chinese military has always adhered to fulfilling its international responsibilities and obligations, provided more public security products to the international community within its capabilities, actively participated in international peacekeeping, maritime escort, humanitarian rescue and other operations, strengthened international arms control and non-proliferation cooperation, and participated constructively in political solutions to problems in hot spots. The Chinese military has jointly safeguarded the security of important international strategic passages and jointly dealt with global challenges such as terrorism, network security, and major natural disasters... The report either selectively ignores or maliciously speculates on the important contributions of the Chinese military.
It deliberately covers up the fact that the US is the root cause of the tension in the Taiwan Strait. Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, China in August this year, severely impacting the "one China" status quo, violating China's sovereignty, and interfering in China's internal affairs. China took strong countermeasures. The military exercises carried out by the Chinese military in the relevant waters are necessary measures to counter the interference of external forces, curb separatist plots of "Taiwan independence", and safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity. The report does not mention at all that the US "using Taiwan to contain China" is the direct cause of the continued deterioration of the situation in the Taiwan Strait. However, it makes irresponsible remarks and comments on China's legitimate response.
It maliciously distorts China's strategic intentions and performance of international responsibilities. The report distorts and portrays the Chinese military's widely acclaimed measures of fulfilling its responsibilities as a major power and promoting international exchanges and cooperation as actions to expand its sphere of influence, change the international order, and compete for regional dominance. For a long time, the US global strategy has been filled with zero-sum and dualistic thinking. With its rising strategic anxiety and declining tolerance, it is naturally more difficult for the US to view China's military development objectively and fairly.This is also an important reason why the report does not hesitate to create lies to inflate "threats".
(The authors are from the PLA Academy of Military Sciences and the PLA Army Engineering University)
