China says US' sky-high defense budget will not make it great again

The wanton use of force will not make the United States great again, Chinese Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

Zhang Xiaogang, the ministry's spokesman, made the remarks in response to media reports claiming that the US defense budget for fiscal year 2026 might reach $1 trillion for the first time and it would be used to enhance lethality and readiness.

He said that the sky-high defense budget exposed once again the bellicose nature of the US side and its belief in "might makes right".

"The US government is in heavy debt, yet it keeps pouring ill-gotten wealth exploited from other countries into manufacturing weapons," Zhang said.

"We hope the US side will break away from the obsession with hegemony as early as possible and recognize that wanton use of force will not make America great again but only inflict painful disasters upon the people of the US and the rest of the world," the spokesman noted.

In addition, Zhang also rebutted the 2025 Annual Threat Assessment released by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which claimed that China is the biggest military and cyber threat for the US.

He stressed that smearing China cannot help remove the US label as the "empire of hacking".

"The US often accuses others of what it has did before or is doing right now," Zhang said, pointing out that the US is not only the main source of cyberattacks against China but also a well-known cyber threat to the world.

"From WikiLeaks to Snowden, Stellar Wind, and Telescreen, the US side has a poor record on cyber issues. It would stop at nothing to conduct surveillance, steal secrets and attack others," he said.

Zhang urged the US side to refrain from launching cyberattacks against other countries including China, and restore a clean and secure cyberspace with responsible words and actions.