The US erodes global security and seeks “absolute superiority,” but Beijing won’t follow the “beaten track” of big powers in seeking hegemony, focusing instead on having a “world-class” army, says a new Chinese military document.

China has markedly sharpened its tone towards the US in a white paper on national defense rolled out on Wednesday. The paper, published by the Defense Ministry, blames Washington for adopting “unilateral policies” as well as provoking competition among major world powers.

Beijing believes the US is after “technological and institutional innovation in pursuit of absolute military superiority,” it also undermines “global strategic stability” by heavily investing in nuclear, space, cyber, and missile defense assets.

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In China’s vicinity, the situation looks even more worrisome, local strategists note, pointing out that Washington carries on with strengthening its Asia-Pacific military alliances and reinforcing “military deployment and intervention.”

The paper naturally mentions Taiwan where “separatist forces” pose “the gravest immediate threat to peace and stability” in the area. Beijing will make “no promise to renounce the use of force” in dealing with the island, and will “resolutely defeat anyone attempting to separate Taiwan from China,” it warns.

No matter how threatening US geopolitical ambitions become, China will never “follow the beaten track of big powers in seeking hegemony” or seek any sphere of influence. Being a member of the nuclear club since the 1960s, it is committed “to a nuclear policy of no first use of nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances.”

Nevertheless, the white paper calls for a rapid change in China’s own military strategy. It admits that the People’s Liberation Army “still lags far behind the world’s leading militaries” and risks getting caught by surprise due to a “growing technological generation gap.”

To cope with that, China should upgrade its military by 2035, fully transforming it into “world-class forces by the mid-21st century.”

The publication comes on the back of similar US papers that flag China as the number one adversary. The Pentagon warns that Beijing – along with Russia – is about to beat the US in cyberspace, air defense and military tech, habitually advocating pouring more money into the military.

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Meanwhile, the US itself has the largest and the most powerful military in the world which eclipses the Chinese one. Washington is estimated to have as many as 800 bases in more than 70 countries and territories, compared to one Chinese logistical facility in Djibouti.

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