MESOPOTAMIA NEWS SPECIAL – WATCH RED CHINA : Top of the Agenda COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS 2. Sept 2020

 

 

Pentagon: China Is Increasing Its Military Power
China is increasing its nuclear power, growing its space program, and deploying artificial intelligence as it seeks to develop (WaPo) a “world-class military,” the U.S. Defense Department said in an annual report. China already surpasses the United States in some areas, including naval size, according to the document [PDF]. The Pentagon expects China (Defense One) to at least double its nuclear warheads over the next decade.

Tensions are high (CNN) between the United States and China, including over Chinese military actions in the South China Sea. Beijing has resisted Washington’s efforts to include it in nuclear arms control talks with Moscow.
Analysis
“In the long run, the best hope is a U.S.-China relationship of managed competition, which would avoid conflict and allow for limited cooperation when it is in both countries’ interest,” CFR President Richard N. Haass writes.

“The crucial variable regarding whether China is successful in its strategic purpose is U.S. domestic, economic, military and diplomatic strength and resolve, and not Chinese actions,” CFR’s Robert D. Blackwill writes.

This CFR Backgrounder looks at China’s modernizing military.