- China's military buildup is "tilting the balance
of power in the Taiwan Strait" in ways threatening to the United States,
say U.S. intelligence officials, whose blunt comments contrast sharply
to past intelligence assessments of the communist country's capabilities.
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- "Improved Chinese capabilities threaten U.S. forces
in the region," CIA Director Porter J. Goss told the Senate Select
Committee on Intelligence Wednesday.
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- "China continues to develop more robust, survivable
nuclear-armed missiles, as well as conventional capabilities for use in
regional conflict," he said.
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- Vice Adm. Lowell Jacoby, director of the Defense Intelligence
Agency, said in prepared testimony to the panel that China is adding numbers
and more capable ballistic missiles to its arsenal to "improve their
survivability and war-fighting capabilities, enhance their coercion and
deterrence value, and overcome ballistic missile defense systems."
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- "This effort is commensurate with its growing power
and more assertive policies, especially with respect to Taiwan," Adm.
Jacoby said.
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- The officials' testimony shows an apparent effort to
define the dangers posed by China's rising military power, which critics
said have been minimized in the past, in part so as not to offend the country
with markets coveted by U.S. businesses. The CIA, in particular, has been
criticized in the past for underestimating Chinese military and security
developments.
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- Sen. Susan Collins, Maine Republican, yesterday asked
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld at a Senate Appropriations Committee
hearing about Mr. Goss' testimony that "sounded the alarm about China's
modernization of its navy."
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- Mr. Rumsfeld said China is boosting defense spending
by "double-digit" rates and most of the buildup is being carried
out in secret.
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- "They're purchasing a great deal of relatively modern
equipment from Russia," Mr. Rumsfeld said. "And as you point
out, they have been expanding their navy and expanding the distances from
the People's Republic of China that their navy ventures."
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- Mr. Rumsfeld said "we hope and pray" China
enters the civilized world "without the grinding of gears."
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- "We don't know that, how they're going to shake
out," he said.
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- The communist government faces internal tension caused
by "competing pressures between the desire to grow, which takes a
free economy as opposed to a command economy, and their dictatorial system,
which is not a free system," Mr. Rumsfeld said.
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- On Wednesday, Mr. Goss said China increased the number
of missiles deployed opposite Taiwan last year and deployed several new
submarines.
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- The Washington Times first reported in December that
China rolled out the first of its 094-class ballistic missile submarines,
and in July China revealed a new class of attack submarine that took U.S.
intelligence agencies by surprise.
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- "If Beijing decides that Taiwan is taking steps
toward permanent separation that exceed Beijing's tolerance, we assess
China is prepared to respond with varying levels of force," Mr. Goss
said.
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- Adm. Jacoby identified three new missile systems, the
DF-31, DF-31A mobile intermediate range ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and
JL-2 submarine launched missile, noting that by 2015 China will have increased
its nuclear warhead arsenal to several times the current level.
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- The DIA estimated in 2000 that China had a total of 157
nuclear warheads for long- and short-range missiles, and will have 464
warheads for its missiles by 2020.
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- Copyright 2005 News World Communications, Inc.
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