China is coercing neighbours to reorder Indo-Pacific region: Pentagon

China is coercing its neighbours to reorder the Indo-Pacific region, the Pentagon told Congress in its annual budget proposals for the fiscal 2019, beginning October 1 this year.
Trump administration on Monday released their proposal for the fiscal year 2019 budget.

Fiscal years are different from calendar years. The budgetary proposal covers October 1, 2018, through September 30, 2019.
"China is leveraging military modernisation, influence operations and predatory economics to coerce neighbouring countries to reorder the Indo-Pacific region to their advantage," the Pentagon said in its annual defence budget for the fiscal 2019.

No one can contain us, says Chinese envoy on US selling arms to India

The Chinese envoy to the US today said that no one could "contain" China now, expressing his displeasure over the formation of an "exclusive club" in the Indo-Pacific region.

Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai was responding to questions on the recent India-centric policy speech by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the decision of the Trump administration to sell to India high-tech military equipment, including state-of-the-art armed drones, and the Japanese proposal of a strategic quadrilateral dialogue involving India and Australia.

"I don't think that the sales of advanced arms would really serve that purpose," Cui said.

Political analysts in the west have described the sale of arms to India as a US move to contain China.

"By the way I don't think anybody would be able to contain China," the Chinese Ambassador asserted in his rare press conference at the Embassy of China here.

The top diplomat was addressing media ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to China early next month.

Trump is scheduled to embark on a 10-day visit to China. He would also visit Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines.

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