• 

Defense Ministry Spokesperson Tan Kefei said on Tuesday that a report published by the Pentagon on China's military developments on November 30 has "hyped up the so-called China military threats" as the document claimed that China would amass 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035.

Tan dismissed the report as groundless and distorted China's national defense policy and military strategy, which is solely committed to the path of peaceful development and world peace, not to mention that it is defensive in nature and a prompt defender of the international order.

He further called out the US over its once again interference with the Taiwan question, adding that China aims to safeguard its own sovereignty, security, and development interests.

"No matter how developed it may become, China will never seek hegemony or engage in expansion," the Spokesperson said.

Kefei also said the US has generated vast social discrepancies across the globe and is the "biggest trouble maker" in global security and "destroyer of world peace and stability," adding that the US "has the world's largest nuclear arsenal" and "has increasingly become the source of nuclear conflicts." 

Regarding the Taiwan question, Kefei warned that the US will continue to manipulate the Taiwan question to contain China and that the Chinese PLA has the necessary capabilities to thwart external interference in its domestic affairs. 

Read more: PLA able to defeat foreign attempts at 'Taiwan independence': MoD

On matters of nuclear defense, Kefei slammed the DoD's report as baseless and said that China only adheres to its strategy of self-defense, in compliance with the policy of no first use of nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances, and keeps the nuclear capabilities at minimum levels required for national security.

On the other hand, the US has been speeding up the completion of the "Trinity" nuclear triad, making excuses for seeking and consolidating hegemony and power and putting its own interests above international justice, not to mention vigorously developing and seeking forward deployment of tactical nuclear weapons and lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, Tan said.

Finally, on matters of the AUKUS pact, Tan said the US has increasingly become the source of nuclear proliferation or nuclear security problems.

"We urge the US side to abandon the Cold War mentality, banish preconceptions and stereotypes about China, correct its wrong perception of China, view the development of China's national defense and armed forces rationally, stop making erroneous remarks and relevant reports, and take concrete actions to bring bilateral and military-to-military relations back to the track of sound and stable development," Tan said.

Read more: Impact of Taiwan crisis on world economy could be devastating: Blinken