China buoyed by breakthroughs in development of stealth fighter, aircraft carrier and space and cruise missiles has stepped up the pace and scope of its military modernisation and this build-up is "potentially destabilising" for its neighbours, the Pentagon has warned.
The military advances portend that China will close the technological gap with the major world powers by 2020 and would be able to flex its muscle in the Pacific and beyond.
"The pace and scope of China's sustained military investment have allowed China to pursue capabilities that we believe are potentially destabilising to regional military balances, increase the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculation, and may contribute to regional tensions and anxieties," Michael Schiffer, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for East Asia said while releasing the Pentagon's annual report on China's military capabilities.
The report said that China's People's Liberation Army (PLA)- with some 1.25 million ground troops, the largest in the world- was on track to achieve its goal of building a regionally focused force by 2020.
It said that China was developing its own aircraft carriers and plans where to have a four carrier task force by 2020. Beijing was also far advanced on work to develop a new generation stealth fighter, the J-20, whose first test had been undertaken in January.
