Voices

“China maintains that national defense building should be commensurate with economic growth. The Japanese side must not forget that， as its Internal Ministry revealed， Japans annual military expenditure grew at a double-digit rate， topping 20 percent at its highest， along with the rapid growth of its economy from 1961 to 1979. Today its per capita military spending is still five times that of China. Japan， therefore， is in no position to make carping comments about Chinas normal military development.”

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying made these remarks at a press conference on July 3， 2015 in response to a comment on the outline of Japans defense whitepaper 2015， which says that Chinas defense expenditure is now 41 times that of 1989.

“It is nothing strange for China and the U.S.， respectively the worlds largest developing and developed country， to have problems between them. Whats important is to enhance our strategic mutual trust， reduce mutual suspicion， and avoid strategic misjudgment. Both sides should firmly believe and proactively anticipate that China and the U.S. will be partners instead of rivals.”

Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed such views during a meeting with the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during talks on the Iranian nuclear issue in Vienna in July. He stressed that cooperation remained the mainstream of China-U.S. relations.