China criticized the Pentagon's report saying that Beijing has increased military spending in preparation for potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait as well as to assert its claims over disputed islands in the China Seas.

Chinese Foreign Minister Hong Lei defended the country's military spending during a news briefing on Friday.

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He said that the report had neglected China's peaceful defense strategy in the Asia-Pacific region and the rest of the world, according to Xinhua news agency.

 "China's military buildup is completely aimed at safeguarding the country's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and is part of the country's justified rights," he said.

He asked the U.S. to stop making biased and unnecessary reports and to stop meddling in China's internal affairs, Yahoo news reported.

"We hope the U.S. can shake off bias, view the development of China's defense capability objectively and rationally, stop issuing the relevant reports, and make concrete efforts in China-U.S. military cooperation," he added.

The report had also covered military exchanges between the 2 countries. Hong urged the U.S. to pursue bilateral military exchange through peaceful means and concrete action.

China and the United States have both been wary of each other especially in terms of security and defense. An article at China US Focus describes the relationship as a "zero-sum," where in this case, military upgrades carried out by China are viewed as a threat by the U.S.

Similarly, an Op-Ed at Xinhua News slammed the Pentagon's report, describing it as an extremely biased act aimed at undermining China's legitimate military modernization, while at the same time highlighting the U.S.' lack of military trust which is essential in major power relations.

The 96-page report released by the Pentagon entitled, "Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2014," said that China had under-reported their military spending by at around 20 percent. While China had reported a budget of about $120 billion, Pentagon estimated the actual amount at $145 billion.

It suspected that China may be preparing for conflict in Taiwan and with other Asian countries. It further speculated that Beijing may prepare for attacks that would result in quick resolution of involved nations before international intervention could take place.

Earlier this year, China had reported an increase in its military spending by about 12.2 percent, placing it behind the U.S., who has declared a $600.4 billion budget last year, the highest defense budget in the world.

TagsBeijing military, China military, World News, US, Bilateral military exchange, military budget, world budgets, Taiwan Strait, soutch china sea, maritime dispute, international interference