China says it is a builder of world peace

MANILA, Philippines — Despite its militarization of the South China Sea that has raised regional tensions and caused its exclusion from participating in joint military exercise, China on Saturday declared it is “always a builder of world peace, contributor to global development and defender of international order.”

The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s statement came after the United States Department of Defense released the “Report on Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2018.”

The report released by Pentagon involved “China’s military threat and lack of transparency” and expressed concerns over China’s strengthened national defense.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China is firmly opposed to the US report which, “in total disregard of facts, makes presumptuous and irresponsible comments on China’s national defense development and its legitimate acts to safeguard territorial sovereignty and security interests.”

“China stays committed to a peaceful development path and follows a national defense policy that is defensive in nature. It is always a builder of world peace, contributor to global development and defender of international order,” Lu said. 

He defended China’s development of national defense, noting that it aims to safeguard its national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, which are the lawful rights for a sovereign state to exercise. 

“This is entirely legitimate and beyond reproach,” Lu said.

Beijing has urged Washington to abandon the outdated cold-war and zero-sum mentality and put China’s strategic intention and national defense development in perspective.

Lu said China has also urged the US to stop issuing irresponsible reports year after year and maintain the steady development of bilateral relations and military-to-military ties between China and the US with concrete action.

US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs Randall Schriver on Thursday said the US is concerned with the trajectory of Chinese activities and involvement and its behavior in the South China Sea.

“They’ve conducted land reclamation on seven different outposts. They’ve put in infrastructure to support military equipment on several of the outposts. So, that’s for us a concern for lot of reasons,” Schriver said in an interview on US Embassy Insider.

“But I think even more importantly, in the long term, they’re trying to position themselves to enforce their sovereignty claim that’s expansive and illegitimate. So, we’re doing a number of things you mentioned, freedom of navigation that is part of a global program,” he said.

The defense official stressed that the US conducts Freedom of Navigation Operations all over the world. The US also conducts presence operations alongside other countries that have their own concerns about the erosion of international law and international norms.

In May, the US disinvited the People’s Liberation Army of China from participating in the 2018 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise.

“We related directly to the behavior of China in the South China Sea,” Schriver said. “They understood what’s this invitation was about and we explained that their behavior was inconsistent with the spirit of the exercise.”  

Schriver noted that countries who participated in RIMPAC like the Philippines do share the spirit of the exercise, which is to “promote international law, international norms.”

President Duterte has instructed Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano to raise with China the recent radio warnings for a Philippine Air Force plane to leave Chinese man-made islands in the South China Sea and convey that it is “not how friends treat each other.”

Last Wednesday, Cayetano said Duterte was reacting to the radio messages between the Chinese military and the Philippine military when the President said in his speech that China should “temper” its behavior in the South China Sea to avoid friction with the US.

The President also warned that the region could become a flashpoint if tensions over the disputed areas persist. 

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr.? and Cayetano came to see Duterte on Wednesday afternoon.

“We told him, Sir, this is routine. We continue to tell anyone who goes into our waters or fly over that you are in Philippine territory and they continue to tell us,” Cayetano told reporters in an interview on the sidelines of a global migration forum last Wednesday.

The foreign affairs chief said the President instructed them to continue the diplomacy and tell the Chinese side there should be a “better way for us staking our claim and talking to each other.”

“But the President gave us instructions… ‘Please talk to your counterparts,’” Cayetano said.

“We’ve worked out many things in the past. He’s confident, we can work this out,” he added.

The President’s statement that China should temper its behavior in the South China Sea, he said, is not a weakening of relations but expects even warmer relations.

In the second half of last year alone, Philippine military aircraft reportedly received Chinese radio warnings at least 46 times while patroling near artificial islands built by China in the South China Sea’s Spratly archipelago.