China fury at US military report

[Shuimo]

Beijing has reacted angrily to a Pentagon report on China's military power, which claimed it was altering the military balance in Asia.
A foreign ministry spokesman called it a "gross distortion of the facts", and urged an end to "Cold War thinking".
In its annual report to Congress, the Pentagon said China was developing "disruptive" technologies for nuclear, space and cyber warfare.
It could be used to enforce claims over disputed territories, the report said.
Beijing was again criticised for a lack of transparency in reporting military spending and security policy.
"This report issued by the US side continues to play up the fallacy of China's military threat," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told journalists.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifREYNOLDS' CHINA
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45536000/jpg/_45536513_blog_small.jpg
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/start_quote_rb.gif Is there enough room for two military powers off the coast of China? http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/end_quote_rb.gif


Read James' thoughts in full (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/jamesreynolds/)




He said Beijing had complained to Washington about it, and urged the US to "drop the Cold War thinking... to prevent further damage to the relationship between the two countries and two armies".
Tensions were heightened earlier this month after a confrontation between US and Chinese ships in China's exclusive economic zone south of Hainan, during which China accused the US of spying.
Projecting power?
The Pentagon reported that China was successfully managing to expand its arsenal of sophisticated weaponry, even though Beijing's ability to sustain military power at a distance remains limited.
Chinese "armed forces continue to develop and field disruptive military technologies", including "nuclear, space, and cyber warfare".
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifhttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/start_quote_rb.gif Much uncertainty surrounds China's future course, particularly regarding how its expanding military power might be used http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/end_quote_rb.gif


Pentagon report


Some of these developments help China to participate in international peacekeeping, humanitarian and counter-piracy missions, the report acknowledged.
But they could also allow China to "project power to ensure access to resources or enforce claims to disputed territories," it said.
The Pentagon analysis said China was developing weapons that would disable its enemies' space technology such as satellites, boosting its electromagnetic warfare and cyber-warfare capabilities and continuing to modernise its nuclear arsenal.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifUS DEPT OF DEFENSE REPORT


Military power of the People's Republic of China [18.4 MB] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/26_03_09china_military_power_report_2009.pdf)

Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader
Download the reader here (http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html)


It also noted a build-up of short-range missiles opposite Taiwan, despite a significant reduction in tension between the two in recent months.
And while the report also welcomed the rise of a peaceful, stable and prosperous China, it added: "Much uncertainty surrounds China's future course, particularly regarding how its expanding military power might be used."
The report estimated China's military spending in 2008 was roughly double that of a decade ago.
Beijing insists its increased military spending is purely for defensive purposes and is still small in comparison with that of the US.
China has repeatedly said that the Pentagon's annual report on its military power unfairly portrays China as a military threat when it is committed to a "peaceful rise" as its economic power grows.
China's armed forces are undoubtedly undergoing a dramatic transformation from a poorly-equipped peasant army to an increasingly sophisticated modern military, the BBC's defence and security correspondent Rob Watson says.
But its level of training and co-ordination as well as actual war fighting capability is still in doubt, he adds.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44468000/gif/_44468200_china_mil_spend01_416gr.gif

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7965084.stm

[Zoomie]

Boofreakinghoo.

[Jagged_552]

:cantbeli: All I can do....

[SBL]

Must've hit pretty close to the mark.

[Chulo]

Does China win the "Miss.Crybaby" of the world award?

[gaijinsamurai]

China's military spending is just a response to the threat posed by the Dalai Lama.

[Ordie]

The report is mandated by Congress not the President.

Unlike other Asian countries, other than the DPRK, the PRC is not transparent about its military capabilities. Much of it is based on intelligence and speculation.

However, there is good reason why China is secretive about its military because it views itself as weak and would liketo keep outsiders guessing.

I don't view China as a threat because it lacks combat experience. The last conflict against Vietnam was 30 years ago. Moreover China is integrated with the world economy and consequences of war would be bad.

The best approach in reducing tensions is increased military contacts between the PRC, its neighbors and the US.

[pacifist]

China has been bitching a lot lately.

[LineDoggie]

Fage will be so angry, this is his rice bowl your breaking......

[LineDoggie]

China's military spending is just a response to the threat posed by the Dalai Lama.
Wasnt he in the Das Reich division?

[Ought Six]

Originally Posted by gaijinsamurai:
"China's military spending is just a response to the threat posed by the Dalai Lama."They are putting MIRV warheads on their ICBMs and SLBMs to make sure they can take out the Dalai Lama and all his doubles in one decapitating retalitory strike.

[Ordie]

They are putting MIRV warheads on their ICBMs and SLBMs to make sure they can take out the Dalai Lama and all his doubles in one decapitating retalitory strike.

It doesn't matter, the Dalai Lama will reincarnate himself into another being.

[Ought Six]

Win, sir! :)

[Gfunk]

China bitches almost as much as Russia does

[Itachi]

China bitches almost as much as Russia does

hehe that right
i think crying is something like a new strategy of some countries xD

[Scriptable]

China has been bitching a lot lately.
Toward whom is China really directing all this ridiculous bitching? They obviously know that the rest of the world knows they are lying. So maybe their statements are directed more towards Chinese nationals living abroad and towards their own citizens, to maintain their loyalty by portraying China as the unfairly treated underdog?

[MaverickCowboy]

seems to me China might be looking for an excuse to flex their muscles and give their military numbers a test run. Then again The American *Gov't* <- specifically is doing a great job at pissing off the world and their citizens as well as influencing the financial scare and possibly orchestrating failure in currency.

[HGRazorR]

Just looks to me like the Pentagon overestimating figures to so Congress tightens up their buttcracks, and then play on that fear to increase the defense budget. Just looks like the DoD and its lobbyists are playing the keeping up with Jones' mentality to its advantage - that's just my thought since war with China seems pretty far fetched after Iraq/Afghanistan

[MaverickCowboy]

Just looks to me like the Pentagon overestimating figures to so Congress tightens up their buttcracks, and then play on that fear to increase the defense budget. Just looks like the DoD and its lobbyists are playing the keeping up with Jones' mentality to its advantage - that's just my thought since war with China seems pretty far fetched after Iraq/Afghanistan

Nothing seems Far Fetched in these these times.

[Scriptable]

Nothing seems Far Fetched in these these times.
True. With dwindling global energy reserves and financial turmoil, China may be planning on using these troubles to its advantage while the world is preoccupied, thinking it can get away with a bit of expansion in the APAC region.

[MaverickCowboy]

True. With dwindling global energy reserves and financial turmoil, China may be planning on using these troubles to its advantage while the world is preoccupied, thinking it can get away with a bit of expansion in the APAC region.

Would this mean the world is more hectic now than it was in the cold war?

[Currahee 1SG]

A closet homo****** is without question the biggest homophobic in the room when called on it.

[TheMiddlePath]

US cries Chinese wolf
By David Isenberg

On March 25, the United States Department of Defense released the 2009 unclassified edition of its annual report "Military Power of the People's Republic of China" to Congress.

As a description of the ongoing development of China's military forces it is a reasonably informative document. But if it was supposed to be an alarm about the threat posed by Chinese military forces it failed badly. For this we should be grateful.

Ever since the demise of the Soviet Union many members of America's politico-military-industrial sector have been looking for another country as a replacement, if only to justify the huge military and security expenditures the United States appropriates annually. And, by default, given its sheer size, population, and increasing economic importance, China is seen as the new threat standard. Indeed, China now provides the rationale for at least a quarter of the Pentagon's budget.

Yet, unlike the waning years of the Cold War, when the Reagan-era Pentagon released its annual Soviet Military Power, giving an estimate of the Soviet Union's military power and strategy, the 66-page Chinese version is more nuanced and far less alarmist. And even the passages warning of threatening Chinese military developments seem unconvincing.

Although the report's release comes after heightened tensions between the US and China after Chinese vessels early this month harassed a US Navy surveillance ship, USNS Impeccable, in international waters in the South China Sea it is difficult to see it as anything other than a recitation of the sort of ongoing force modernization that any major power would undertake as a matter of course.

Indeed, in the Pentagon press briefing introducing the report a senior defense official said, "China appears to be pursuing a set of enduring strategic priorities which we identify in this report as, first, perpetuating the role of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing economic development, ensuring domestic stability, protecting national sovereignty and territorial integrity and obtaining great-power status."

With the exception of protecting the Chinese Communist Party there are the same goals the United States lists in its own annual strategy documents.

On Taiwan, the report notes that China continues to produce weapons that could threaten the island and increase the number of short-range missiles opposite the island, but it also notes that the overall security situation in the Taiwan Straits has improved in the last year.

While the report mentions China's development of longer-range capabilities it acknowledges that some of these capabilities have allowed it to contribute cooperatively to the international community's responsibilities in areas such as peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and counter-piracy.

On military spending the report says China's official military budget grew nearly 18% in 2008 to US$60.1 billion, although that is not the total of its military expenditures. The Pentagon estimates military spending at $105 billion to $150 billion.

The report notes that China has resumed reporting its defense expenditure to the United Nations. But its decision to employ the simplified reporting form suggests that China's leaders have not yet committed fully to the idea of military transparency as a confidence-building measure. Yet the data that is publicly available shows that overall China's military expenditures are dwarfed by that of the United States.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in 2007, China's estimated total military expenditure was 506 billion yuan, or $58.2 billion. China spent only 2.1% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on its military in 2006 (the last year data was available).

For the United States that figure was $578 billion, or $546 billion in constant dollars. That would be 4% of its GDP. Of course, that does not include military spending on wars it is fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan, or military spending for homeland security.

Also, during the press briefing the defense official noted that, "I think - yeah, there's been a - there's been an overall trend of incremental and modest improvements in transparency."

Considering that at the press briefing the defense official said "China is now spending a lot more for its military than just about everybody else in the region," it is worth noting that the share of GDP it spends on the military is only 0.1 percentage point more than that of Taiwan. And it is 0.6 percentage points less than India spends on its military.

What the report seems to find most threatening is China's future ability to project power to ensure access to resources or enforce claims to disputed territories. The report noted, "In this regard, we see a continued emphasis on building capacity for sea- and land-based anti-access and aerial denial operations. And as an example, in the maritime domain, China's maritime anti-access and aerial denial capabilities increasingly appear geared toward coordinated operations to interdict at long ranges aircraft carriers or expeditionary strike groups out into the Western Pacific."

This is thinly veiled code for China's growing ability to counter US military forces in a future crisis. But it takes more than weaponry to fight effectively. The American experience since 2001 shows that advanced weaponry, even against opponents with no navies, armies, air forces and air defenses, can have costly, unintended strategic consequences.

The organization and training of its forces is at least equally, if not more, important.

Yet, the response to a question at the press briefing indicates that China's future military potential is not a burning concern at the Pentagon.

Question: Beyond the region, did you all look at, for example, how many years or decades China may be out from being able to challenge the US militarily?

Senior defense official: We didn't actually conduct that assessment in this report. So we don't make that judgment.

In fact, the report stated, "The Poeple's Liberation Army's (PLA) force projection capabilities will remain limited over the next decade as the PLA replaces outdated aircraft and maritime vessels and adjusts operational doctrine to encompass new capabilities. These changes will require tailored logistics equipment and training that that will take time and funding to develop. Although foreign-produced or civil sector equipment and maintenance parts may help to fill near-term gaps, continued reliance on non-organic assets will hinder PLA capabilities to sustain large-scale operations."

David Isenberg is a researcher at the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo. He is an adjunct scholar with the Cato Institute, a research fellow at the Independent Institute, a US Navy veteran, and the author of a new book, Shadow Force: Private Security Contractors in Iraq. The views expressed are his own. His e-mail is sento@earthlink.net.

[Scriptable]

US cries Chinese wolf
By David Isenberg

David Isenberg is a researcher at the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo.
Dude, its written by a guy from a Peace Institute, so its like asking PETA their opinion on how to BBQ a juicy steak.

[deagle]

whatever, its not they're they're wrong, we might not be right.

there's two sides to every coin, so we're just as mad as they are .