Chinese Embassy Spokesman Xie Feng said on July 22 that the report issued by the Pentagon and the other by the Sino-US Security Review Commission -- both issued within the last 10 days -- "are not true to the facts.''

Xie pointed out at a press conference that China's defence budget is the lowest of the world's biggest countries. "It is about one-19th of the United States' and half of Japan's. So I don't think that, militarily, China poses any threat to any country,'' he told a news conference.

"China is a developing country with a relatively low GDP per capita. Our basic national policy right now is to continue concentrating on economic construction to further raise the living standards of our people,'' he said.

"Moreover, China has a history of peace-loving. If you have studied Chinese culture, you will find that the essence of Chinese philosophy lies in peace and harmony,'' he said.

He noted that the map of China today is very similar to that during the Han dynasty 2,000 years ago.

The Pentagon report estimated that the Chinese mainland's annual military spending was as high as US$65 billion but Xie said: "I have noticed that here, in the United States, a group of Americans have been complaining loudly about the lack of transparency of Chinese military spending. So I just wonder how they have come up with this figure of US$65 billion.''

The so-called "China threat'' theory is really nothing new, Xie said. Whenever Sino-US relations reap some progress, some people who cling to the Cold-War mentality come back and trumpet this theory, he said.

"The threat to Sino-US relations and the threat to world peace do not lie in China but rather in these people who have fabricated this 'China threat','' he said.

Turning to the Falun Gong cult, Xie said that more and more people have realized that the cult poses a serious threat not only to the Chinese people but also to civilized society all over the world.

Xie said that the cult has never stopped breaking the law and committing crimes. The number of deaths caused by the practice of Falun Gong in China has exceeded 1,700, and the number of its followers who have been diagnosed as having mental problems is in excess of 600, he said.

Misled by cult leader Li Hongzhi's teachings, Falun Gong practitioners refuse to go to hospital or take medication when they become ill, Xie said.

As a result, some practitioners have died because of delayed treatment, while others have suffered from mental disorder. Some committed suicide or even killed their own relatives, he said.

In June, cult members based outside China interfered with the State-run satellite Sinosat to broadcast cult propaganda on the frequencies used by Chinese radio and television programmes.

"By openly and deliberately attacking Sinosat in contempt of international laws and regulations, the Falun Gong cult unscrupulously upset the order of wireless communications and launched a challenge against civilization,'' Xie said.

"The international community should unite in condemning and punishing this cult,'' he added.