JOIN USChina building new nuke system, space weapons
Beijing is acquiring ‘capabilities’ to strike from a distance, warned the US Defence department, saying these moves, “increase the potential of misunderstanding” and military conflict with other nations.
China is extending its military advantage over Taiwan and increasingly looking beyond, building up a force with power to strike in Asia as far afield as the US territory of Guam, the Pentagon said.
The military report said China was “already looking at contingencies beyond Taiwan,” including through a longstanding project to build a far-reaching missile that could potentially strike US carriers deep in the Pacific.
In the worrying new assessment, Pentagon said Beijing had developed missiles capable of striking targets in space and is also expanding its fleet of conventional and nuclear submarines to give its forces global reach.
The annual Congressional-mandated report by the Pentagon expressed concern about the lack of transparency from China and the anti-access, area denial capabilities it is acquiring.
Military spending
In 2009 alone, the Pentagon said China’s military-related spending was $150 billion. While some of the increasing Chinese capabilities have been put to positive use, like humanitarian and anti-piracy efforts, the report says, China’s continued effort to be able to sustain military operations far from its shore was a cause of concern to the US military.
But, it said China had still limited ability to sustain military power at a distance. “They are fast catching up,” the report said, by developing an anti-ship ballistic missile that has a range in excess of 1,500 kilometres, which is intended to provide the PLA with the capability to attack ships, including aircraft carriers in the Western Pacific.
“China has the most active land-based ballistic and cruise missile programme in the world. It is developing and testing several new classes of offensive missiles, qualitatively upgrading certain missile systems and developing methods to counter ballistic missile defences,” a Pentagon official said. China’s programme also extends over into the area of nuclear force modernisation.
Dragon on the prowl
*China ramping up investment in an array of areas including nuclear weapons, long-range missiles, submarines and aircraft carriers
*Pentagon says the moves “increase the potential of misunderstanding” and military conflict with other nations
*Looking beyond Taiwan, China is building up a force with power to strike in Asia as far afield as the US territory of Guam
*China’s military-related spending was more than $150 billion in 2009
Missiles close to Indian border
China has moved new advanced longer range CSS-5 missiles close to its border with India and developed contingency plans to shift airborne forces at short notice to the region, the Pentagon said in its annual report.
Despite increased political and economic relationship between India and China, the Pentagon in a report to the US Congress said: “Tensions remain along the Sino-India border with rising instances of border violation and aggressive border patrolling by Chinese soldiers.”
However, a senior Defense Department official told reporters that the US has not observed any anomalous increase in military capabilities along the Sino-India border.