China said on Wednesday that the U.S.’ unilateral policies and “power politics” only served to undermine global stability, at a time when the Defense Ministry issued the first comprehensive outline of its policies since President Xi Jinping took office over six years ago.
The document’s opening section mentions the United States as the main “destabilizing factor” among those listed as prominent ones, as well as those countries causing “profound changes” in the international security environment.
“The U.S. has adjusted its national security and defense strategies, and adopted unilateral policies. It has provoked and intensified competition among countries, significantly increased its defense expenditure … and undermined global strategic stability,” the document says, according to ABC News.
The document is the 10th such paper, the last of which was published two years before Xi became president. It stresses that China will continue to use force in its efforts to reunify Taiwan with the mainland, vowing to take all necessary military measures to defeat “separatists.”
China further said one of its top priorities was to contain the independence of Taiwan and combat what it sees to be separatist forces in Tibet and the far west region of Xinjiang. The report notes that 1,588 violent terrorist gangs and 12,995 terrorists have been take out by Xinjiang authorities with the help of China’s paramilitary police.
Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian has warned that there is an increasing threat of Taiwan separatism, pointing out that those who are seeking the independence of the island will come at a dead end. China considers Taiwan part of its territory although the island separated from mainland China amid civil war in 1949.
“If anyone dares to separate Taiwan from China, the Chinese army will certainly fight, resolutely defending the country’s sovereign unity and territorial integrity,” Wu said.
The United States has sold weapons to Taiwan, angering China. Earlier this month, the U.S. approved a $2.2 billion arms sale to Taiwan, prompting threats from China to slap the U.S. with sanctions.
The white paper also maintains that the U.S. deployment of a missile defense system in South Korea has severely undermined the regional strategic balance.
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