China military gaining on Taiwan, aiming beyond — US
WASHINGTON — 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. The report — which US officials delayed for five months amid strains with China — covered 2009, before the United States approved a $6.4-billion 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.... MORE Source: The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100818com5.html |
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