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China slams Pentagon report

BEIJING, July 21 (UPI) -- China's Vice Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi has unleashed a scathing broadside at a new Pentagon report on China's military, state-run media reported.

According to the official Xinhua news agency, Yang was speaking on behalf of the Chinese government when he summoned the second highest-ranking U.S. diplomat in Beijing, Deputy Chief of Mission David Sedney, to hear a "solemn representation with the U.S. government" expressing "strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to a report on China's military power published by the Department of Defense."

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Ambassador Clark T. Randt was visiting the U.S. Consulate in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang; otherwise he would have been the one called in Wednesday to bear the brunt of Yang's blunt remarks.

Analysts note the vice foreign minister is one of the top America experts in China's diplomatic corps. Yang Jiechi served as ambassador to the United States from 2001 until March 2005.

While indirect speech is one of the characteristics associated with Chinese culture, Yang was crystal clear in voicing his government's displeasure with the Pentagon assessment. He criticized the report for promoting the "China threat" as well as encouraging Taiwan's independence. He also accused its authors of hypocrisy in criticizing the amount China spends on weapons compared with the United States.

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