China is seriously increasing its effort to compete with the United States in terms of military superiority in air and space, according to Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work on Monday.
China’s efforts to surpass the United States in air and space prompted the Pentagon to develop new technologies and systems to maintain its superiority.
China is quickly closing the technological gaps
Speaking with a group of military civilian aerospace experts, Work said China is “quickly closing the technological gaps” noting its development of advanced reconnaissance planes, radar-evading aircraft, sophisticated missiles, and top-notch electronic warfare equipment.
Yesterday, Xinhua, state-run news agency in China reported that Xu Qiliang, a vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) China wants his country to pursue further innovations.
Qiliang also previously stressed the importance of quality when building military equipment. During the equipment quality conference last month, he said, “Quality is the key element in a nation’s competitiveness.”
He added that the sole concern of China was winning battles, and they should not lose time in building a quality feedback mechanism, test the quality of military operations and realistic exercises. Furthermore, he emphasized that one of the important basis for evaluating the quality of equipment is the satisfaction of officers and soldiers.
United States cannot overlook the competitive aspects of relationship with China
The Deputy Defense Secretary emphasized that the United States “cannot overlook the competitive aspects of our relationship, especially in the realm of military capabilities, an area in which China continues to improve at a very impressive rates” while trying to develop a constructive relationship with Beijing.
He added that the leaders of the United States and China considered the bilateral relationships as an area where there are “measures of cooperation and measures of competition. “We’re hoping over time that the cooperative aspects outweigh competitive aspects,” said Work.
According to him, a Harvard study on rising powers confronting established powers often results to war. He emphasized that the Defense Department must prevent such international competition from turning into a more heated situation.
The Deputy Defense Secretary emphasized that the best hedge for a military competition was a strong nuclear and conventional deterrence capable of surpassing any rival.
According to Work, over the past 25 years, the United States relied on technological superiority. However, he noted that currently, the country’s “margin of technological superiority is steadily eroding.” He said Pentagon is developing new technologies to maintain its advantage and lower the cost of responding to attacks.
China is still far from meeting United States’ military power on a global battlefront
A related report from David Axe on Reuters indicated that China is still far from ready to match the United States’ military power on a global battlefront.
Axe said it is true that China’s military is rapidly improving, and it could match the U.S. in certain local and regional engagements. He added that China is a paper dragon (in military terms) because it is still powerless to intervene in world events far from its shores despite its apparent military strength.
He noted that currently, China is “not a global military power, and it doesn’t even want to be one.” According to Axe, China lacks expertise, military doctrine, and equipment to match the United States on a global battlefront. He emphasized that China’s military doest does not have combat experience, and its training regimens are unrealistic.
Axe also suggested that many of the new equipment of China’s air force, army, and navy were based on designs stolen by the Chinese government hackers and agents from the United States and other countries. He pointed out that most of its equipment were not yet used in actual combat.
“China has no interest in deploying and fighting across the globe, as the United States does. Beijing is preparing to fight along its own borders and especially in the China seas, a far easier task for its inexperienced troops,” wrote Axe.
Source: Reuters
