China's military might a concern

Chinese have had "greatest, deepest and broadest global military transformation that has ever occurred in mankind's history", says a study by the Washington-based Hudson Institute.

Washington (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The United States must prepare an effective strategy to face China's rising military power, a conservative US think-tank has warned.

Beijing's rapid technological advances mean the US "must plan seriously" for its development of weapons of greater complexity and power, according to a study by the Washington-based Hudson Institute. The report warns that the US government is too preoccupied with its "war on terror" and democratization of the Middle East and Central Asia and is ignoring China's emergence as a top competitor to US technological leadership.

Since the al-Qaeda attacks on September 11, the US had largely focused on the fight against low-tech terrorism. In reality, "the information, naval, and above all aerospace sectors still constitute the nucleus of the new revolution in military affairs," it said. "If we neglect the timely development of weaponry in these arenas, then China could catch America like a deer in the proverbial headlights - precisely where we caught them after the 1991 victory in Desert Storm."

The American use of surgical bombing and electromagnetic warfare in the Gulf war in 1991 "dramatically demonstrated" the huge chasm between China and the US in modern weapons systems, the report said, with Beijing "at least 20 years behind".

The gap was further displayed in 1996 when two US aircraft carrier battle groups off the coast of Taiwan upstaged Chinese missile exercises. The Gulf war sparked a revamp of the Chinese military that resulted in the "greatest, deepest and broadest global military transformation that has ever occurred in mankind's history", the report said.

Republican Senator Norm Coleman said China's "proliferation of massive numbers of scientists, mathematicians and engineers will have major impact on lessening America's edge in high technology, telecommunications, computing and weaponry, and this challenge cannot be ignored".

He said the biggest perceived military threat posed by China was on the naval front.

"America has the responsibility for ensuring the openness of shipping lanes. And so I think that's the one area where there is probably most vulnerability as one looks into the not-too-distant future," he said.

• CHINA
• UNITED
• STATES
• economy
• armaments
• military
• army
• naval
• aerospace
• war
• security