Pentagon worried about China's submarine military build-up

Pentagon warns of China's military build-up

By Toby Harnden in Washington
Last Updated: 4:09am BST 26/05/2007

China is developing long-range nuclear missiles that have the capacity to hit America, a Pentagon report said yesterday.

The report, delivered to Congress, highlighted increased American concerns that China is an expansionist power, aggressively building up its military forces so it had the capacity to launch "pre-emptive" strikes.

China's development of weapons, including a recent test in which a satellite was shot down "is expanding from the traditional land, air, and sea dimensions of the modern battlefield to include space and cyberspace," the report said.

"The expanding military capabilities of China's armed forces are a major factor in changing East Asian military balances; improvements in China's strategic capabilities have ramifications far beyond the Asia-Pacific region," it said.

Beijing was accused of trying to hide its military build-up. "China's published defence budget does not include large categories of expenditure, including expenses for strategic forces, foreign acquisitions, military-related research and development, and China's paramilitary forces."

The Chinese Communist Party's "heavy reliance on secrecy acts in tandem with military deception", the report said, although it noted that this could prove to "be a double-edged sword, confusing China's leaders as much as China's adversaries".

Among the weapons of greatest concern to the United States is the mobile, land-based DF-31A intercontinental ballistic missile which could reach anywhere in America and five Jin-class submarines, equipped to carry missiles with a 5,000-mile range.

A map in the report shows that the US is within range of the DF-31As and the CSS-4, also known as the Dong Feng 5.

"China currently is capable of targeting its nuclear forces throughout the region and most of the world, including the continental United States," the caption said. China could be in danger of over-reaching, however, because its "ability to sustain military power at a distance, at present, remains limited".

The report said that Chinese military training focusing on no-notice, long-range air strikes "could also indicate planning for pre-emptive military options in advance of regional crises".

The Pentagon report also condemned the successful anti-satellite test conducted in January, which was China's first. "The test put at risk the assets of all space-faring nations and posed dangers to human space flight due to the creation of an unprecedented amount of debris."

Robert Gates, the Pentagon chief, said the report was a sober assessment of China's weapons systems and intentions. "It paints a picture of a country that is devoting substantial resources to the military and developing... very sophisticated capabilities."