China criticizes US defense report citing Chinese militarty advances

China's defense ministry criticized a US report assessing its island-building efforts in the South China Sea, saying it "hyped up" China's so-called military threat, saying that it "wilfully distorted China's national defense policy."

The report to the US Congress on Friday said that China was focused on developing and weaponizing the islands it has built in the disputed waters of the South China Sea so it will have greater control over the maritime region without resorting to armed conflict, accusing China of ""increasingly assertive efforts to advance its national sovereignty and territorial claims" and a lack of transparency about its growing military capabilities.