Pentagon warning over China military build-up

[lauhumku]

Pentagon warning over China military build-up

<!-- Class 'push-0' just right-aligns the element so that the main content comes first. --> <!-- cT-storyDetails --> Shaun Tandon
<cite>August 17, 2010 - 9:24PM

</cite> <bod>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. In an annual report to Congress, the US Defense Department said Monday that China was ramping up investment in an array of areas including nuclear weapons, long-range missiles, submarines, aircraft carriers and cyber warfare. "The balance of cross-Strait military forces continues to shift in the mainland's favor," the report said.

The Pentagon said China's military build-up on the Taiwan Strait has "continued unabated" despite improving political and commercial relations since the island elected Beijing-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou in 2008. Taiwan said Tuesday it was "closely monitoring" China's arms build-up and renewed calls for the United States to sell it upgraded F16 jets and diesel submarines in the wake of the report. "China has not given up the use of force against Taiwan, and we are closely monitoring China's military developments.

We ask the public to rest assured," defense ministry spokesman Yu Sy-tue told AFP. The report -- which US officials delayed for five months amid strains with China -- covered 2009, before the United States approved a 6.4 billion-dollar arms package for the island in January. China considers Taiwan, where the mainland's defeated nationalists fled in 1949, to be a province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

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. "Current trends in China's military capabilities are a major factor in changing East Asian military balances and could provide China with a force capable of conducting a range of military operations in Asia well beyond Taiwan," it said.

China's military doctrine has traditionally emphasized the ability to strike within an area extending to Japan's Okinawa island chain and throughout the South China Sea east of Vietnam, the report said. But Chinese strategists are now looking to expand their reach further to be able to hit targets as far away as Guam, including much of mainland Japan and the Philippines, it said.

China is working on the longer-range precision missile, but probably needs more work on the technical infrastructure to put the weapon into use, an official who helped draft the report said on condition of anonymity. Japan said it would keep a close eye on the Chinese build-up. "Studying the latest US report, Japan will keep paying attention to China's military trend as it will have a significant impact on security in the region, including Japan, and on the international community," a defense ministry spokeswoman said.

Japan and Vietnam, which both have historic tensions with China, have reported rising incidents with China's military in recent months and the report predicted China may step up patrols in the South China Sea. In March, China said it was raising its defense budget by 7.5 percent to 532.1 billion yuan -- 77.9 billion US dollars at the exchange rate at the time -- breaking a string of double-digit increases.

The Pentagon study was cautious on suggestions that China's military was tightening its belt, saying the spending growth may be lower simply because the forces were at the end of a five-year program. The Pentagon paper estimated China's overall military-related spending was more than 150 billion US dollars in 2009 when including areas that do not figure in the publicly released budget.

President Barack Obama's administration has sought to broaden cooperation with China, but bilateral military exchanges were broken off after the US agreed an arms package with Taiwan that included helicopters, missile defenses and mine-sweepers. The Pentagon said it wanted dialogue with China to avoid any "miscalculation" between the two militaries. "We stand prepared to work with the Chinese if they are prepared to work with us," the anonymous official said.

</bod>© 2010 AFP

 

[lauhumku]

Japan watching China's military closely


Japan watching China's military closely <!-- Class 'push-0' just right-aligns the element so that the main content comes first. --> <!-- cT-storyDetails --> <cite>
August 17, 2010 - 8:44PM</cite>

<bod> AFP
Japan said on Tuesday it would keep a close eye on Beijing's military build-up, following a US government report warning that China's rising defence power is changing East Asia's military balance. The comment by Japan's defence ministry came after two incidents on the high seas in recent months in which Chinese naval helicopters buzzed Japanese destroyers watching their naval flotillas near Japanese islands.

"Studying the latest US report, Japan will keep paying attention to China's military trend as it will have a significant impact on security in the region, including Japan, and on the international community," a defence ministry spokeswoman said. "China is activating its navy in the East China Sea and in the Pacific," the spokeswoman said. She said the defence ministry believed Beijing was extending its activities far offshore with the aim of protecting its territory, preempting Taiwan's possible independence and safeguarding its economic sea lanes.

China considers Taiwan, where the mainland's defeated nationalists fled in 1949, to be a province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. The Pentagon on Monday said China's military buildup was "a major factor in changing East Asian military balances and could provide China with a force capable of conducting a range of military operations in Asia well beyond Taiwan".

In April, Tokyo protested after a Chinese naval helicopter made a close fly-by of one of its destroyers on the high seas off a southern Japanese island chain during exercises Japan considered provocative. A similar incident took place near the Okinawan islands in the same month when 10 Chinese naval vessels, including two submarines, were seen sailing through international waters between Japan's southernmost islands.

In its annual report to Congress, the US Defence Department said that China was ramping up investment in an array of areas including nuclear weapons, long-range missiles, submarines, aircraft carriers and cyber warfare. The Pentagon paper estimated that China's overall military-related spending was more than $US150 billion ($A166.98 billion) in 2009, including areas that do not figure in the publicly released budget.

</bod>© 2010 AFP

 

[lauhumku]

Taiwan renews call on US to sell F16s, submarines


Taiwan renews call on US to sell F16s, submarines

2010-08-17 16:15

TAIPEI, Tuesday 17 August 2010 (AFP) - Taiwan on Tuesday renewed a call on the United States to sell it upgraded F16 jets and diesel submarines, reacting to a Pentagon report warning of China's growing military advantage over the island.

"We hope the US can continue to supply Taiwan with defensive weapons in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act, including F16 C/Ds, diesel submarines and other items we have requested," defence ministry spokesman Yu Sy-tue said.

The Taiwan Relations Act, passed by the US Congress in 1979, requires the United States to provide the island with "arms of a defensive character". Yu also said earlier Tuesday that Taiwan was "closely monitoring" China's arms build-up following the report from the US defence ministry.

"China has not given up the use of force against Taiwan, and we are closely monitoring China's military developments. We ask the public to rest assured," he told AFP. In an annual report to Congress, the Pentagon said Monday that China's military build-up against Taiwan has "continued unabated" despite improving political relations.

"The balance of... military forces continues to shift in the mainland's favour," the report said. The report covered developments in 2009, before the United States approved a 6.4 billion-dollar arms package for the island in January. China considers Taiwan, where the mainland's defeated nationalists fled in 1949, to be territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

However, ties have improved markedly since Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou took office in 2008 on a Beijing-friendly platform. Ma has said that the island will not engage in an arms race with China, despite the threat it poses.

 

[lauhumku]

FACTBOX - China's growing military clout


Tuesday August 17, 2010

FACTBOX - China's growing military clout

(Reuters) - China's military modernisation raises the risk of "misunderstanding and miscalculation," the Pentagon said in an annual assessment released on Monday, following naval tensions in the seas off China's shore.

Following is a brief overview of China's defence forces:

<table align="right" border="0" width="20%"><tbody><tr><td>

</td></tr><tr><td>Soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) take part in a training session at a military base in Taiyuan, Shanxi province July 31, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer/Files)
</td></tr></tbody></table> WORLD'S BIGGEST ARMY:

- The People's Liberation Army (PLA) was born out of the Red Army, a 5 million-strong peasant army that took Communist leader Mao Zedong to power in 1949.

- China lifted its official defence budget by 7.5 percent in 2010, compared to the previous year, bringing annual PLA spending to 532.1 billion yuan ($78.6 billion).

- Many foreign analysts say China's real military outlays are much more. A senior U.S. defence official, outlining the Pentagon's annual report, estimated that China's military-related spending was about $150 billion in 2009.

- The Obama administration's core defence budget request for fiscal year 2011 was $548.9 billion, not including war costs in Iraq and Afghanistan, up 1.8 percent from the current year.

- China's 2.3 million-strong armed forces are far bigger than the world's second-largest military, that of the United States, whose forces number around 1.5 million.

- China is trying to transform the PLA into a smaller, sleeker modern force capable of short, high-intensity conflicts against high-tech adversaries.

- China has never renounced the use of force to bring self-ruled and democratic Taiwan, which it considers its sovereign territory, under Beijing's rule.

PLA NAVY AND AIR FORCE:

- The PLA Navy has about 290,000 personnel and about 72 combat ships, many of which are aged vessels. President Hu Jintao has made the navy's modernisation a priority, and it is upgrading its destroyers and frigates to range further and strike harder.

- While China has announced no official plans to build an aircraft carrier, analysts expect it is only a matter of time.

- China in recent years has bought eight Russian-made non-nuclear submarines, adding to four bought in the 1990s. It has also built or is planning its own new submarines, including nuclear-powered ones, to replenish its fleet of nearly 60 ageing subs. It has built a naval base on Hainan, the island-province in far southern China, that can serve submarines.

- China boasts the world's third-largest air force, with about 400,000 personnel and 2,000 combat aircraft, including advanced Russian-designed Su-30 and Su-27 fighters.

MISSILES, NUCLEAR WEAPONS:

- Like all nuclear weapons states, China is secretive about its arsenal. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has estimated that by 2009 China had 186 deployed strategic nuclear warheads, compared to 2,202 for the United States and 2,787 for Russia.

- China is building new "Jin-class" ballistic missile submarines, capable of launching nuclear warheads while at sea.

- The U.S. Defense Department says China had deployed 1,050 to 1,150 short-range ballistic missiles across the Taiwan Strait by last December, a number unchanged from the total reported in the Pentagon's report to Congress last year. The Pentagon also says that the PLA is "acquiring large numbers of highly accurate cruise missiles".

- The successful missile "kill" of an old satellite in early 2007 represented a new level of ability for the Chinese military, and in January this year China successfully tested emerging military technology aimed at destroying missiles in mid-air.

(For more news on Reuters India, click http://in.reuters.com)
Copyright © 2010 Reuters