'China threat' largely exaggerated distortion: Russian expert
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A Russian expert on Wednesday rejected the "China threat" claim, calling it a largely exaggerated distortion.
The alarmists' fears were largely exaggerated and Beijing's objective was to preserve stability and ease tensions in its surrounding regions by all means, professor Gennadi Chufrin, deputy director of Moscow's Institute for World Economy and International Affairs, told Xinhua.
"Chinese national interests, for at least 50 years ahead, lie in securing the country's sustainable development," Chufrin said, "These plans require the adequate protection, which is not the same as aggression."
Chufrin stressed that China has not been involved in any armed conflicts around the world.
Beijing, meanwhile, actively tries to defuse tensions by means of negotiations in dealing with regional issues, such as tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Chufrin said.
With regards to why China's development has drawn attention from the world, Chufrin believed the reason lies in China's growing weight in global affairs.
"China's policy of peaceful development steams from the indisputable fact that China's weight in the global affairs grows," Chufrin said.
However, China's peaceful policy has been met with different attitudes from different politicians abroad.
Some of them responded to Beijing's peaceful development policy with complete delight, while some others took it with suspicion, especially on the growth of China's military power.
"The growth of Chinese military might has been a factor of pacification rather than tension, for the reasons already mentioned: Beijing's economical development plans must be nestled in the peaceful environment," Chufrin said.
"China modernizes its armed forces and armament, just in accordance to its economy modernization," he added.
Chufrin said he believed China does not challenge other countries.
"Now China are interested in uninterrupted economic development. China just wants to be assured that no external force would hinder its long-term development plans," he said.
The best example of Beijing's peaceful purposes are China's relations with Russia, on bilateral basis and within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Chufrin said.
"On the other side of the globe, Chinese President Hu Jintao's recent visit to Washington also demonstrated that China lacks any aggressive intentions and is interested in political dialogue," Chufrin said.
