(Photo Credit: Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
(BGF) – Recently, China’s Lt. Gen. Wang Guanzhong accused the United States and Japan of attempting to sow controversy and incite tensions in Asia. General Wang’s comments came in reaction to speeches by U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a conference of military leaders from around the world. As evidenced by General Wang’s reaction, China perceived the speeches as an indication that the U.S. and Japan are trying to encourage regional stability so that the U.S. can maintain its military dominance in the Asia-Pacific Region. Click here to read the full article or visit The New York Times‘ website.
China Accuses U.S. and Japan of Incitement
By Helene Cooper
SINGAPORE — China struck back harshly at the United States and Japan on Saturday, as a senior Chinese military official accused Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan of acting in concert to sow controversy and division in the Asia-Pacific region.
Speaking to reporters at a conference here of senior military officials from around the region, Lt. Gen. Wang Guanzhong, the deputy chief of staff of the People’s Liberation Army, characterized a speech on Saturday morning by Mr. Hagel, which followed one by Mr. Abe on Friday night, as “full of threats and intimidating language,” according to Chinese news media outlets.
General Wang seemed especially annoyed that Mr. Hagel, who accused China of coercive tactics in its many maritime disputes with its neighbors, had made his accusations at a conference about regional cooperation.
“Secretary Hagel, in this kind of public space with many people, openly criticized China without reason,” General Wang said. “Secretary Hagel’s speech is full of encouragement, incitement for the Asia region’s instability giving rise to a disturbance.”
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