https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...-expansion-threatens-u-s-interests/621385002/
How China's military expansion threatens U.S. interests
Oren Dorell, USA TODAY Published 12:11 p.m. ET May 18, 2018
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WASHINGTON — China is developing a navy twice the size of the U.S. Navy and working to replace the United States as the major global power, analysts told a House committee.
China will have about 550 warships by 2030 — nearly double the size of today’s U.S. Navy, said James Fanell, a former Navy intelligence officer now at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.
“Expect China to push us out of the region. Expect to lose more allies,” Fanell told the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday.
The analysts testified about five signals China is working to surpass the U.S. in Asia and elsewhere:
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency and taken Friday, May 11, 2018, two Su-35 fighter jets and a H-6K bomber from the People's Liberation Army air force fly in formation during patrol that included the Luzon Straits also known as Bashi Straits near Taiwan on May 11, 2018. (Photo: Liu Rui, AP)
Threat to Taiwan
China has launched an aggressive campaign of “constant coercion” against Taiwan, including interference in its democracy and non-stop cyberattacks, said Dan Blumenthal, director of Asia studies at the American Enterprise Institute.
“Every day that Taiwan survives as a democracy it undermines the support of the Chinese people for China,”said Rick Fisher, a China and Korea analyst at the International Assessment and Strategy Center.
China considers the autonomous island a breakaway province. The U.S. supports Taiwan by providing it with weapons to deter Chinese aggression. Chinese President Xi Jinping has signaled that China will seek to reclaim its historical properties by 2049, the centennial of China’s founding, Fanell said.
epa06733122 Members of the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation gather to celebrate Buddha's birthday in Liberty Square, in Taipei, Taiwan, 13 May 2018. Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gautama, was born about 2,500 years ago in Lumbini, now in modern-day Nepal, and is worshipped by people throughout Asia. EPA-EFE/DAVID CHANG ORG XMIT: TWN09 (Photo: DAVID CHANG, EPA-EFE)
China has already claimed the South China Sea, which is also claimed by other nations in the region, and China has "plans for Taiwan,” Fanell said.
"They want to get it back,” he said, and told the military to make plans, he said.
Foreign sea ports
China is using a giant infrastructure project, called the Belt and Road Initiative, to build an alternative route from central China to the West. It would circumvent U.S.-controlled shipping lanes to gain control over foreign sea ports and other facilities, Blumenthal said.
“Major investments go to Pakistan and Bangladesh, which allows (China) to go to the Indian Ocean without going through the Straits of Malacca, which are dominated by the USA,” Blumenthal said. “This is cash for access.”
China's first domestically manufactured aircraft carrier, known only as "Type 001A", leaves port in the northeast city of Dalian early on May 13, 2018. China's first domestically manufactured aircraft carrier started sea trials on May 13, state media said, a landmark in Beijing's ambitious plans to modernise its navy as the Asian giant presses its claims in disputed regional waters. (Photo: -, AFP/Getty Images)
Ships and more ships
China’s Navy currently has 330 ships and 66 submarines, for a total of 396, compared to the U.S. Navy’s total of 283, consisting 211 ships and 72 subs, Fanell said. By 2030, China’s Navy will have 549 ships, including 450 surface ships and 99 subs. It’s not clear if Congress will fund enough shipbuilding to float 355 ships and subs by then, Fanell said.
While the U.S. has relied on having the best military technology on the sea and in the air, China has been closing the technological gap. “The quality of (China’s) warships already presents a credible threat across the Asia-Pacific today,” Fanell said.
One example: China has the world’s first fully nuclear-powered aircraft carrier battle group, with a marine force of 100,000 troops, said Rick Fisher of the International Assessment and Strategy Center.
This undated photo taken in April 2018 shows J15 fighter jets on China's sole operational aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, during a drill at sea. A flotilla of Chinese naval vessels held a "live combat drill" in the East China Sea, state media reported early April 23, 2018, the latest show of force by Beijing's burgeoning navy in disputed waters that have riled neighbors. (Photo: -, AFP/Getty Images)
Space
China has ground-based laser weapons and missiles and is developing space-based systems to neutralize enemy satellites that the U.S. and its allies use for communications and surveillance, Fisher said
Should war break out between the U.S. and China, one of China's first actions would be to attack assets U.S. has in space, he said. “Their literature talks about space-based bombing platforms.”
Chinese engineers published a 2017 paper about how to build a 5-ton chemical laser satellite capable of targeting other satellites from low-earth orbit.
“The Chinese have told me that when they go to the moon, it will be just as dual use as our Cape Canaveral,” Fisher said. “We cannot allow the moon to become a base for China’s projection of power. And we cannot allow low-earth orbit to become dominated by Chinese military platforms manned and unmanned.”
James Fanell, center, of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, talks about China's military expansion before the House Select Committee on Intelligence May 17, 2018. On his right is Patricia Lim of the Council on Foreign Relations, and to his left is Richard Fisher of the International Strategy and Assessment Center and Dan Blumenthal of the American Enterprise Institute. China is building a navy twice the size of the U.S. Navy, the analysts said. (Photo: Oren Dorell, USA TODAY)
Still vulnerable
Despite all this, the U.S. can still target China's vulnerabilities, said Patricia Kim, an analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations.
China's totalitarian government and high levels of corruption create a potential for ethnic unrest, "and potential instability that would distract it from its global mission," Kim said.
China has no formal allies, other than a treaty of cooperation with North Korea, while the U.S. has scores of allies around the world, she said.
And rejections of Chinese investment in Greenland, Greece and Zimbabwe show "that even states with a need for economic aid will not accept Chinese investment," Kim said.
http://mil.news.sina.com.cn/2018-05-21/doc-ihaturft5289796.shtml
美媒称中国海军规模将是美军两倍：他们想收复台湾
美媒称中国海军规模将是美军两倍：他们想收复台湾
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《今日美国报》网站5月18日发表奥伦·多雷尔的文章《中国的军事扩张如何威胁美国利益》称，分析人士在众议院一个委员会称，中国正在发展一支两倍于美国海军规模的海军，而且正在努力取代美国成为全球主要国家。
▲《今日美国报》网站相关报道截图
海军前情报官员、目前效力于日内瓦安全政策研究中心的詹姆斯·法内尔说，中国到2030年将拥有近550艘军舰，这个数字相当于目前美国海军规模的近两倍。
法内尔17日在众议院情报委员会称：“预计中国将把美国挤出亚太地区。美国将失去更多的盟友。”
分析人士指出了中国正努力在亚洲和其他地区超越美国的四个信号：
对台湾的威胁
美国企业研究所亚洲研究主管丹·布卢门撒尔说，中国大陆对台湾发起了一项咄咄逼人的“持续高压”攻势。
法内尔说：“他们想收复台湾。”
▲空军发言人11日发布消息，苏-35战机首次与轰-6K战机编队飞越巴士海峡，实现了绕岛巡航模式的新突破。
外国港口
报道称，中国正在利用“一带一路”倡议这个大型基础设施项目，建设一条从中国中部到西方的路线。布卢门撒尔说，中国将绕过美国控制的航线，来取得对外国港口和其他设施的控制权。
布卢门撒尔说：“重大投资流向了巴基斯坦和孟加拉国，这使得（中国）能够不必取道美国控制的马六甲海峡而进入印度洋。这是用钱买路。”
▲资料图片：2016年11月13日，巴基斯坦时任总理谢里夫前往俾路支省主持了由中国投资的瓜达尔港开航仪式。
军舰和更多的军舰
法内尔说，到2030年中国海军将拥有549艘军舰，包括450艘水面舰艇和99艘潜艇。法内尔说，尚不清楚国会是否会拨款令美国海军届时能够拥有355艘军舰和潜艇。
尽管美国一直自恃在海上和空中拥有最好的军事技术，但是中国一直在缩小技术差距。法内尔说：“（中国的）军舰质量今天在亚太地区已经构成了一种可信的威胁。”
▲资料图片：辽宁舰（上）与烟台舰在某海域机动航行。
太空
国际评估和战略研究中心的里克·费希尔说，中国拥有陆基激光武器和导弹，而且正在开发令美国及其盟友用来通信和监视的卫星失效的天基系统。他说，如果美中之间爆发战争，中国首先的动作之一将是打击美国在太空的资产。他们的学术文献讨论过天基轰炸平台。
费希尔说：“中国人告诉我，如果在月球上部署作战空间站，它会像是美国的卡纳维拉尔角空军基地一样具有双重用途。我们决不允许月球成为中国投射力量的基地，我们决不允许近地轨道由中国的有人操控和无人操控军事平台所控制。”
▲中国玉兔号月球车（维基百科）
https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201801221060972249-us-chinese-relations-interests-concerns/
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US Feels Threatened by Chinese Economic Expansion Globally – Scholar
© REUTERS / Thomas White/Illustration/File Photo
Opinion
19:58 22.01.2018(updated 20:02 22.01.2018) Get short URL
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Professor of Public Policy at the University of Maryland and political analyst, John Short, told Radio Sputnik how mutual economic interests might affect the relations between Washington and Beijing, and what exactly worries the United States about China.
The new strategy recently unveiled by US Defense Secretary James Mattis designates countering China's and Russia’s rapidly expanding military, and not terrorism, as the main focus of the United States national security.
And as Professor Short explained, the relations between US and China are currently “a bit of a mixed bag”: while President Donald Trump had a successful meeting with Chinese leadership and even “changed his opinion from the campaign rhetoric,” the new strategy essentially undercuts this emergent special relationship.
Radio Sputnik: China and the US are the world’s largest and second-largest economy, and their economies are extremely intertwined and interdependent on each other.What can you say about that economic fact on the background of everything that’s been going on in the relationship? And do you think that the fact that there’s so much to be economically gained by both sides will see continued cooperation?
John Short: In terms of global security you’d likely think that a shared economic interest will trump any military confrontation or possible military confrontation. There are enormously shared economic interests. However, there’s rhetoric in the US about the asymmetry in the trade relations, with China running up in surplus and America left with trade deficit.
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'Cold War Mentality': US Defense Strategy Includes False Judgments on China
But China buys a great deal of US treasuries; they have shared interest in an open global economy. You would think that over the long term this would override any short-term military engagement or possible engagement.
And there is an enormous asymmetry: the US is a global military superpower and China is a global economic power, not a global military power.
Radio Sputnik: Do you feel that America feels threatened by China? And at the same time we also see Trump and his America First policy where he’s pulling back from other countries and trying to focus on America (well, in words, in any case). What can you say about that balance, and to what extent does China feel threatened by the US’ new strategy? And to what extent the US might really feel threatened by China’s expansion?
John Short: Yes, US feels threatened by Chinese economic expansion globally and its military expansion in the South China Sea. And China, I think, has a reason to worry about this new strategy – it still may be a strategy rather than an actual process.
I’m still not sure where it came from, to be honest; it came from the bowels of the Defense Department, and it struck many people as rather odd, given the political rhetoric from Trump and the emphasis on terrorism. I think that even analysts in the US are still trying to deconstruct this new strategic statement.
