Beijing issues a stern threat against Washington in response to Pentagon claims that China pursues "disruptive military technologies".

Pentagon released a report titled Military Power of the People's Republic of China 2009 on Wednesday in which it said that Beijing is busily trying to arm its forces with weapons that can be used to intimidate and attack Taiwan and nullify the superiority of American naval and air power in its sphere of influence.

China responded angrily, saying the United States had distorted facts on Chinese military power.

"This report issued by the US side continues to play up the fallacy of China's military threat," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at his regular news briefing in Beijing on Thursday.

"This is a gross distortion of the facts and China resolutely opposes it," he continued.

He advised the United States not to issue such reports for the sake of avoiding "further damage to the two sides' military relations".

"We suggest the United States respect the fundamental facts, drop the Cold War thinking and prejudices, stop releasing such China military reports and stop the groundless accusations over China," he said.

The Pentagon report, the first issued by the Obama administration, came weeks after the recent confrontation between Chinese boats and a US Navy surveillance ship in the South China Sea heightened tensions between the two countries.

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell earlier on Wednesday confirmed the tensions and said, "We have advocated time and again for more dialogue and transparency in our dealings with the Chinese government and military, all in an effort to reduce suspicions on both sides."

China expert David Finklestein has explained that the rising superpower intends to protect its expanding economic and political interests around the world.

According to him, such intentions were clarified when China moved to protect its vessels against pirate attacks by deploying two destroyers off the coast of Somalia.

"The Chinese military is being told to develop capabilities to deal with Chinese national interests beyond the pure defense of Chinese territory," said Finklestein, the Director of China Studies for CAN -- a nonprofit research group that performs analyses for the US military and other clients.

"China, with a global economy, now obviously has global political interests and clearly has expanding global security interests," he explains.

China is furious about US arms sales to Taiwan -- a small country China regards as its own. The US defense department decided to sell a record $6.5 billion in military equipment to Taiwan last October.

The arms deal led to the suspension of high-level contacts between China and Pentagon. Tensions, however, were eased following a last month visit to China by the US deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, David S. Sedney.

China says it seeks only peace and self-defense and argues that other nations have overstated the "China threat" for their own political ends.

"China has constantly taken the path of peaceful development and pursued a defensive national defense policy, to maintain world peace and stability," Qin said Thursday.

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