China Rising -- the military threat

Bill Gertz has a disturbing article on China's military expansion in the Washington Times.

China is building its military forces faster than U.S. intelligence and military analysts expected, prompting fears that Beijing will attack Taiwan in the next two years, according to Pentagon officials.

U.S. defense and intelligence officials say all the signs point in one troubling direction: Beijing then will be forced to go to war with the United States, which has vowed to defend Taiwan against a Chinese attack.

China's military buildup includes an array of new high-technology weapons, such as warships, submarines, missiles and a maneuverable warhead designed to defeat U.S. missile defenses. Recent intelligence reports also show that China has stepped up military exercises involving amphibious assaults, viewed as another sign that it is preparing for an attack on Taiwan.

That is bad enough, but there is more. Quoting an intelligence official Gertz writes:

...China wants a "blue-water" navy capable of projecting power far beyond the two island chains.
"If you look at the technical capabilities of the weapons platforms that they're fielding, the sea-keeping capabilities, the size, sensors and weapons fit, this capability transcends the baseline that is required to deal with a Taiwan situation militarily," the intelligence official said.

"So they are positioned then, if [Taiwan is] resolved one way or the other, to really become a regional military power as well."

China's expansion, he concludes, is a real threat to both the United States and to Russia which has vast natural resources that China covets.

Intelligence estimates suggest that within two to three years China will have the military capacity to challenge the US over the issue of Taiwan.

Scary stuff....,

Stay tuned.

Read it here.