China’s military advantage over Taiwan rises, analysts say

China’s growing military capability also gives it a better chance to counter the United States or another country that might intervene in the event of a war, Mark Cozad, a senior analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency, told a congressional advisory panel in a detailed assessment of China’s military strength.

China raised its military budget by nearly 18 percent this year, to about US$45 billion (euro34 billion) — the biggest jump since 1995. The Defense Department says actual Chinese defense spending could be twice as high and has urged China to fully explain the spending.

The Chinese navy and air force have been major beneficiaries of the increased money China has funneled into its military, Cozad told the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

China has bought or developed new diesel submarines, destroyers with long-range air defense systems and anti ship cruise missiles; the air force has invested in advanced fighter aircraft and bombers, he said.

China’s military modernization, Cozad said, focuses “on presenting a credible threat to Taiwan and preventing any third party that might intervene on Taiwan’s behalf in a crisis.”

Chinese officials say they are open about military spending and have increased military exchanges with other countries, including the United States.

China and Taiwan split in 1949. China considers the democratic island Chinese territory and repeatedly has threatened war should it move toward formal independence.

Any outbreak of hostilities could ensnare the United States, which is Taiwan’s biggest arms supplier and is bound by law to help the island defend itself.

Cozad said “the most telling sign of China’s modernization and the balance of power in the Taiwan Strait” is the huge number of short-range ballistic missiles directly opposite Taiwan that is growing at an average rate of 100 missiles a year. U.S. officials said last year that China had 800 missiles aimed at Taiwan.

On Wednesday, China’s ambassador to the United States urged Washington to stop selling weapons to the island’s government.

Zhou Wenzhong said in a speech that how the United States and China deal with Taiwan is crucial to the overall development of U.S.-Chinese relations.

Also at Thursday’s hearing, Marine Gen. James Cartwright, chief of the U.S. Strategic Command, said China’s Jan. 11 destruction of an old weather satellite by a warhead demonstrated its rapid improvement in military technology.

The test was widely criticized as a provocative display of China’s growing military capability. China says it is committed to the peaceful use of space.

Creating more opportunities for the two militaries to discuss their intentions would reduce the chance for future tension, Cartwright said.

China’s development of modern modes of warfare including military uses of outer space and cyberspace have yielded impressive gains that require U.S. vigilance, experts told a congressional panel on Thursday.

The officials and security analysts told the U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission that China’s military modernization also raises alarms because the communist government in Beijing remains secretive about its intentions.

China’s test firing of a ballistic missile that pulverized one of its own satellites about 537 miles (865 km) above Earth was not a surprise because it was Beijing’s third attempt, Gen. James Cartwright, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, said.

But he told the commission the much-criticized Jan. 11 anti-satellite test was “impressive how quickly they got the capability” and “should be a wake up call to others” about the systems China is pursuing in outer space.

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