"China will continue to develop its military to narrow the gap in military strength between China and the US, which the US and its allies should accept as normal," said Xu Guangyu, a retired PLA rear admiral and a senior adviser to the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association.
"But it doesn't mean we are preparing for a war with them. China's military power will not threaten the US as long as the US doesn't treat us as an enemy," Xu stressed.
US generals and defense contractors wanting to maintain a large defense budget is not news at all, so they "need to create enemies for themselves and scare Congress," Xu said.
"We will not rule out the possibility of military conflict with the US in the Asia-Pacific region due to potential provocations from hawkish officials. That's why we are prepared militarily in the South China Sea," Xu added.
This article was written by Yang Sheng and first published in the Global Times.
