Beijing has returned fire after Australia unveiled plans to overhaul its armed forces, accusing its southern neighbour of hyping up a “China threat” as an excuse to expand its military. In its first response after the federal government released a declassified version of a once in a generation review of the Australian Defence Force, Beijing said its own military build-up had been purely “defensive in nature”. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the Asian superpower was committed to peace and stability in both the Asia-Pacific and “the wider world”. “We do not pose a challenge to any country,” she told ... (full story)