China aims for ‘world-class army’

BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping's pledge to build a "worldclass army" by 2050 is making his neighbors nervous, but analysts say Beijing's military ambitions do not constitute a strategic threat — for now.

With purchases and construction of fighter jets, ships and hi-tech weaponry, China's military budget has grown steadily for 30 years, but remains three times smaller than that of the United States.

Now, Beijing wants to catch up.

"We should strive to fully transform the people's armed forces into a worldclass military by the mid21st century," Xi told 2,300 delegates of the Chinese Communist Party, which he heads and which controls the army.

The comments, made during the party's twicea-decade congress, were aimed in part at domestic nationalists, but also intended to show other countries "China's desire to be strong economically as well as militarily," said James Char, a military analyst at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

During China's so-called Century of Humiliation, starting around the mid-19th century, the country lost almost every war it fought, and was often forced to give major concessions in subsequent treaties.

"That's why China, more than any other country, dreams of a strong army. Not to bully other countries, but to defend ourselves," said Ni Lexiong from Shanghai University of Political Science and Law.

But Xi's call to build a military that can "fight and win" has alarmed China's neighbors, several of whom are embroiled in tense border disputes with the superpower.