Beijing, Dec 7 (ANI): Chinese President Hu Jintao has told the nation's navy to accelerate its development and prepare for war.
According to the BBC, he told a meeting of military officials that the navy should "accelerate its transformation and modernisation in a sturdy way, and make extended preparations for warfare in order to make greater contributions to safeguard national security".
The word "warfare" was used in official media, but other translations used "military combat" and "military struggle".
According to the report, analysts believe that Jintao's comments are unusually blunt, and are likely to be aimed at the US and Beijing's rivals in the South China Sea.
Both the Philippines and Vietnam have repeatedly accused China of overt aggression in the region.
After Jintao's comments, the US said China was entitled to defend itself.
"Nobody's looking for a scrap here," said Pentagon spokesman Admiral John Kirb.
"Certainly we wouldn't begrudge any other nation the opportunity to develop naval forces," he added. (ANI)
|
|
Read More: South Goa
Comments:
