Military Power of the People's Republic of China 2008: Annual Report to Congress

摘要

China's rapid rise over recent years as a regional political and economic power with growing global influence is an important element in today's strategic landscape, one that has significant implications for the region and the world. The United States welcomes the rise of a stable, peaceful, and prosperous China. No country has done more to assist, facilitate, and encourage China's national development and its integration in the international system. The United States continues to encourage China to participate as a responsible international stakeholder by taking on a greater share of responsibility for the stability, resilience, and growth of the global system. However, much uncertainty surrounds China's future course, in particular in the area of its expanding military power and how that power might be used. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is pursuing comprehensive transformation from a mass army designed for protracted wars of attrition on its territory to one capable of fighting and winning short-duration, high intensity conflicts along its periphery against high-tech adversaries. China's ability to sustain military power at a distance remains limited but, as noted in the 2006 'Quadrennial Defense Review Report,' it has the greatest potential to compete militarily with the United States and field disruptive military technologies that could over time offset traditional U.S. military advantages. China's near-term focus on preparing for contingencies in the Taiwan Strait, including the possibility of U.S. intervention, is an important driver of its modernization. China's nuclear force modernization, as evidenced by the fielding of the new DF-31 and DF-31A intercontinental-range missiles, is enhancing China's strategic strike capabilities, and its emergent anti-access/area denial capabilities are expanding from the land, air, and sea dimensions of the traditional battlefield into the space and cyber-space domains.