China Report Shows Growing Military Capability

The 2008 Military Power of the People's Republic of China report has been delivered to the United States Congress by the Pentagon in fulfillment of a provision contained in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2000. The report, which lays out a steadily increasing Chinese military capability, was quickly denounced by Chinese officials in Beijing.

The report is an annual requirement mandated by the Congress to provide a Pentagon assessment of Chinese military power. According to the Department of Defense, the Pentagon is required "...to submit a report '...on the current and future military strategy of the People's Republic of China.'" The report is supposed to assess not only technological development but Chinese strategy for the next two decades.

The 66-page report says rising Chinese political and economic power has significant strategic implications for the United States and the rest of the international community. While calling on China to act as a responsible global player, the report says, "...much uncertainty surrounds China's future course, in particular in the area of its expanding military power and how that power might be used."

China is pursuing a new warfare capability based on technology and grounded in the information age, the report says, transforming its army from one prepared for standing conflict with massed armies to one able to defeat technology-rich opponents in shorter contests. The report says China refers to such contests as "local wars under conditions of informatization."

In the short term, Pentagon planners believe China is focusing on possible issues arising in Taiwan, and the belief that the United States might intervene in a Sino-Taiwanese conflict is at least somewhat responsible for the drive to modernize Chinese forces for high-tech warfare. The Pentagon report takes note of significant Chinese investment in military capability over recent years, and warns that Chinese advances are shifting regional military balances of power.

The Pentagon is also wary of China's pursuit of increased military capabilities in space. Particularly worrisome for the Pentagon is China's drive to increase its capacity not only for operating in space, but for acquiring the capability to attack and destroy an adversary's space assets. Military.com, a defense issues web site that reports on defense matters, news, and technology updates, quotes U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia David Sedney as saying that for the first time, American and Chinese officials have agreed to meet with each other to go over the report's findings.

Sources: DoD, China Report, Military.com