BEIJING — China faces “multiple and complicated” threats in the Asia-Pacific region but will put defending itself “above all else,” a defense ministry report said Tuesday.
An annual white paper identified as challenges a territorial row with Japan and “some countries” strengthening alliances and boosting their military presence in the region.
The United States has pivoted its foreign policy toward Asia in recent years, a move widely seen as having emboldened China’s rivals in a series of maritime territorial spats, which include Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam. China has the world’s largest active military.
“China still faces multiple and complicated security threats and challenges,” said the white paper on Diversified Employment of China’s Armed Forces, adding the military would “place above all else the protection of national sovereignty and security.”
“Some countries are strengthening their Asia-Pacific military alliances, expanding military presence in the region, and frequently making the situation there tenser,” it said, without naming any particular state.
Read the full story at DefenseNews