China blasts US panel for 'cold war' thinking

China hit back at the US yesterday over a document that called Beijing's growing military a threat to Washington's armed dominance in Asia, accusing its authors of a "cold war mentality".

China's military spending was soaring and the modernisation of the People's Liberation Army "is altering the security balance in the Asia-Pacific, challenging decades of US military preeminence in the region", the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission said in its annual report on Wednesday.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters: "We hope this committee can stop this cold war mentality and do things that can boost mutual trust between China and the US."

The Washington document said China was "rapidly expanding and diversifying its ability to strike US bases, ships and aircraft" throughout the Asia-Pacific region, including areas it could not previously reach, such as the US territory of Guam.

Quoting the Office of Naval Intelligence, it said that China would probably have 313 to 342 submarines by 2020 - including around 60 that could fire intercontinental ballistic missiles or cruise missiles against ships.

Hong said China's military policy was "defensive in nature" and "within a reasonable range". Its sole purpose, he added, was "protecting our country".