Beijing Rejects Washington’s Speculation

But the U.S. Insists that the Chinese Threat is not a Myth

Who is threatening whom? Is China threatening America, or is it the other way around? The controversy over this topic fueled the Pentagon report that insists that the growth of China’s military strength will lead to the destabilization of the Asia-Pacific region. The modernization of China’s air force and navy and the development of space weapons worry the United States. However, one Nezavisimaya Gazeta expert says that the primary goal of this report is to prevent budget cuts to the American military.

The Chinese agency Xinhua called the Pentagon report, which was released on Wednesday, the fruit of idle fantasies. The commentary says that Chinese military strategy is defensive in nature. Insofar as the county now has economic interests all over the world, it has every right to build up an effective military. The Americans have made a lot of noise for no reason.

Concerning the controversy surrounding the Pentagon’s annual report to Congress, Far East Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences Professor Yakov Berger noted that “Beijing has for some time held back modernizing its military forces, and instead made fundamental investments in its economy. But analysts argued that the modernization of the army should occur at the same rate as the modernization of the economy. And the country’s leadership accepted these arguments.

“At the moment, the strength of the American military greatly surpasses that of the Chinese military. But under circumstances where Washington has accumulated an enormous national debt, it is becoming harder for the military to oppose budget cuts. Naturally, the idea of the Chinese threat plays right into the generals’ hands.”

On the other hand, Chinese and U.S. interests actually are colliding in Asia. Here the Americans’ fears are justified. It isn’t coincidence that several Southeast Asian countries called for the United States to maintain its military presence in the region.

China realizes that it is impossible to push the United States out from the region. The country is developing new types of weaponry, including space weapons, in order to alter the balance of power to its benefit.

The military plans of the People’s Republic of China are focused on Taiwan. There is no need to invade the island. China will resolve the problems of Taiwan’s resurgence through a course of applying greater political, economic and military pressure on it. At the same time, China will act carefully. Indeed, “squeezing the country too harshly could activate the separatist forces in Taiwan,” concluded NG’s expert.

As seen from its report, the Pentagon thinks that rebuilding the People’s Liberation Army of China in accordance to the demands of the 21st century will take about 10 years. By 2020, China will wield a modern military.

Nevertheless, already several military technical achievements marked the past year. As Reuters reported, an anti-surface ballistic missile and the prototype of a stealth fighter plane have been developed, and an aircraft carrier, purchased from Ukraine and now refitted, has successfully undergone an initial test.

For any world power, aircraft carriers represent one of the most effective means of projecting one’s power abroad. As U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia Michael Schiffer said while presenting the report, China is working on developing its own aircraft carriers. According to the media agencies, China is now building two such ships. However, they won’t be ready for operational use at least until 2015.

Those at the Pentagon think that a Chinese attempt to resolve the Taiwan problem by military means cannot be excluded. Namely that is why, as emphasized in the report, China is speedily developing both its surface and submarine fleet. The task of the Chinese navy is to prevent U.S. intervention in the case that a military conflict erupts in the Taiwan Strait.