China vows to promote peace in Asia after sending Liaoning warship through Taiwan Strait

China said it is committed to maintain peace and stability in Asia soon after it locked horns with Taiwan over scrambling jets across Taiwan Strait on Wednesday (11 January).

China issued the statement as a foreword to a Cabinet report on its policies about Asia-Pacific security cooperation after it received a huge backlash from the US and Japan over its increasing military aggressiveness in the region, particularly in the South China Sea.

However, the report did not directly mention about such concerns from warring parties from the region, or the US, according to AP.

"China is committed to promoting peace and stability in this region. It follows the path of peaceful development and the mutually beneficial strategy of opening up," the report said.

"It has participated in regional cooperation in an all-round way and taken active steps in response to both traditional and non-traditional security challenges, contributing to lasting peace and common prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region," it said.

However, the report reinstated the communist country's claims over the disputed territories in the South and the East China Sea waterways. It also reportedly expressed strong opposition to the US and South Korea's plan of deploying an advance missile defense system, called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), to counter growing nuclear threats from North Korea.

It said, Thaad would "seriously damage the regional strategic balance and the strategic security interests of China and other countries in the region".

The report from the mainland comes after Taiwan scrambled jets and navy ships as Chinese battle group; led by its sole aircraft carrier - the Soviet-built Liaoning - sailed through the Taiwan Strait. It was the latest sign of heightened tensions between China and the self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing considers as its breakaway province under 'one China' policy.

Chang Hsiao-yueh, minister of Taiwan's China policy-making body, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), said: "Any threats would not benefit cross-Strait ties."

However, China's Cabinet report seemed to have stressed more on the country's contributions to security and willingness to combine forces with other nations to improve security framework in the region.

"China has actively pushed for peaceful solutions to hotspot issues such as the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula and the Afghanistan issue, and played its due role as a responsible major country," the report said.

China's Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said the issue would not undermine the relations between Beijing and Taipei.

China's navy "does not pose a threat to the security of this region or to neighboring countries," AP cited Liu as saying.