BEIJING — China on Tuesday said it plans to extend its military’s global reach to safeguard its economic and maritime interests, while insisting it did not seek confrontation with its neighbors despite “provocative actions” over disputed islands and “meddling” by the United States.
A policy document issued by the Cabinet setting out China’s military strategy underlined the country’s growing global defense ambitions linked to its dramatic economic rise.
But Beijing insisted its military was dedicated to “international security cooperation” and peaceful development.
It said the navy would expand its focus from “offshore waters defense” to put more emphasis on “open seas protection” as China aims to establish itself as a maritime power.
The air force, meanwhile, would shift its focus from “territorial air defense to both defense and offense.”
In December, China sent a 700-strong peacekeeping force to South Sudan, a nation where it has extensive oil interests, marking the first time it has ever sent an infantry battalion on a United Nations mission.
China also is negotiating with the strategic port of Djibouti to open a military base there, to support anti-piracy naval escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia, the Agence France-Presse news agency reported. The United States and France already have a military presence in the tiny Horn of Africa nation.
“With the growth of China’s national interests, the security of our overseas energy and resources, strategic sea lines of communication, and the safety of our overseas institutions, personnel and assets have become prominent issues,” Senior Col. Zhang Yuguo told a news conference.
He added, however, a note of outreach apparently aimed at the United States and other countries closely watching China’s military growth.
“China will never seek hegemony or divide up spheres of power, nor will it engage in military alliances or expansion,” he said.
Closer to home, China’s expanding military power has rattled its neighbors and set it on a possible collision course with Washington.
This year in particular, Washington has repeatedly condemned a rapid program of land reclamation and construction on disputed islands and reefs in the South China Sea. A U.S. surveillance plane was warned to leave the area by the Chinese navy last week, while Beijing lodged a formal diplomatic complaint.
Defense ministry spokesman Senior Col. Yang Yujun compared China’s construction activities on the islands to “everyday actions” such as building houses, roads and bridges. But he acknowledged that the facilities being built on the islands — that include an airstrip and radar stations — will have both military and civilian uses.
He said the Chinese military was responding to increasingly frequent surveillance flights in a “legal and professional manner,” but the issue was being hyped up to “throw mud” at China.
“There’s no ruling out the possibility that some country is seeking an excuse for its potential action in the future,” he said. “I don’t think this is a new trick. It’s an old trick.”
Philippines President Benigno Aquino was quoted as saying on Monday that his nation would continue flying over disputed islands in the South China Sea, while Defense Minister Voltaire Gazmin said he was seeking a “stronger commitment” from the United States to help its ally, according to news agency reports.
China responded angrily.
“I would like to remind the Philippines that China will not bully small countries, but small countries must not ceaselessly and willfully make trouble,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a news conference.
