The US is closely monitoring China’s military development, the State Department has said adding that it encourages Beijing to exhibit greater transparency with respect to its capabilities and intentions.
“We continue to closely monitor China’s military developments and to encourage China to exhibit greater transparency with respect to its capabilities and intentions,” State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said.
“We aren’t going to analyse or comment on what every release means,” Psaki said when asked about China revealing its first fleet of submarines for the first time in 42 years.
“We remain committed to building stable, reliable, and continuous military-to-military relations with China,” she added.
In view of the Chinese disclosure, and the strong statement issued by the Japanese Prime Minister, the state department official urged countries in the region to avoid actions that could raise tensions or result in miscalculations that would undermine peace, security, and economic growth in the region.
“That’s the message we would send to both sides. We continue to work with China on military-to-military relations and continue to encourage them to be transparent,” Psaki told reporters in response to a question.