Deccan Chronicle

China may target US, says Pentagon

Not clear about message that Beijing wants to send from expanded military ops

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Washington, Aug. 17: China’s military has expanded its bomber operations in recent years while “likely training for strikes” against the US and its allies, a Pentagon report released on Thursday said.

The assessment, which comes at a time of heightened US-China tensions over trade, was contained in an annual report that highlighte­d China’s efforts to increase its global influence, with defence spending that the Pentagon estimates exceeded $190 billion in 2017.

“Over the last three years, the PLA has rapidly expanded its overwater bomber operating areas, gaining experience in critical maritime regions and likely training for strikes against US and allied targets,” the report said, using an acronym for China’s People’s Liberation Army.

The report comes as China and the US plan to hold trade talks, offering hope they might resolve an escalating tariff conflict that threatens to degenerate into an allout trade war.

The report said that while the PLA had continued to extend operations, it was not clear what message Beijing was seeking to send by carrying out the flights “beyond a demonstrat­ion of improved capabiliti­es.”

The Chinese embassy in Washington could not immediatel­y be reached for comment.

This year China’s air force landed bombers on islands and reefs in the South China Sea as part of a training exercise in the disputed region.

In January the Pentagon put countering Beijing, along with Russia, at the centre of a new national defence strategy.

While Washington and Beijing maintain a military-to-military relationsh­ip aimed at containing tensions, this has been tested in recent months, notably in May when the Pentagon withdrew an invitation to China to join a multinatio­nal naval exercise.

In June, US defense secretary Jim Mattis became the first Pentagon chief to visit China since 2014. The report said that despite a projected slowdown in economic growth, China’s official defence budget would be more than $240 billion by 2028.

It also said China’s space programme was progressin­g rapidly.

“The PLA continues to strengthen its military space capabiliti­es despite its public stance against the militarisa­tion of space,” it said.

This month, President Donald Trump’s administra­tion announced an ambitious plan to usher in a new “Space Force” as the sixth branch of the military by 2020

One of the arguments in favour of developing such a force is that American rivals like China appear increasing­ly ready to strike U.S. space-based capabiliti­es in the event of a conflict.

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