The US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has released a new report outlining its concerns over China’s growing military power, declaring that China outperforms the US in some areas of defence technology.
The ‘China Military Power’ report is one in a series of reports by the DIA and reviews China’s military objectives, plans and intentions. It aims to examine China’s capabilities in carrying out its goals.
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By GlobalDataDIA director Lieutenant General Robert P Ashley Jr said: “This report offers insights into the modernisation of Chinese military power as it reforms from a defensive, inflexible ground-based force charged with domestic and peripheral security responsibilities to a joint, highly agile, expeditionary, and power-projecting arm of Chinese foreign policy that engages in military diplomacy and operations across the globe.”
According to a senior defence intelligence official at the Pentagon, China’s advancements of its military equipment and technology are a top concern for the US as the Chinese army becomes more confident in its ability to wage war.
Regarding China’s progress in defence technology, the report stated: “As international concern over Beijing’s human rights policies stymied the PLA’s search for ever more sophisticated technologies, China shifted funds and efforts to acquiring technology by any means available.
“Domestic laws forced foreign partners of Chinese-based joint ventures to release their technology in exchange for entry into China’s lucrative market, and China has used other means to secure needed technology and expertise. The result of this multifaceted approach to technology acquisition is a PLA on the verge of fielding some of the most modern weapon systems in the world. In some areas, it already leads the world.”
Historically, the Chinese Government has used military force against threats to its regime, including pre-emptive as well as retaliatory attacks. However, over the last few decades, China’s withdrawal from military operations has led to a sense of insecurity with the Chinese Army and now there is a greater push for modernisation.
Ashley said: “As China continues to grow in strength and confidence, our nation’s leaders will face a China insistent on having a greater voice in global interactions, which at times may be antithetical to US interests.
“With a deeper understanding of the military might behind China’s economic and diplomatic efforts, we can provide our own national political, economic, and military leaders the widest range of options for choosing when to counter, when to encourage, and when to join with China in actions around the world.”
The DIA has been producing defence intelligence reports since the first ‘Soviet Military Power’ report in 1981. It aims to provide the public with a greater understanding in the threats to US national security.
