Pentagon report to portray China as emerging rival

Pentagon report to portray China as emerging rival
By Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington
Published: May 24 2005 22:22 | Last updated: May 25 2005 00:25

The Pentagon is preparing to release a report on the Chinese military that warns the US that it should take more seriously the possibility that China might emerge as a strategic rival to the US, according to a senior government official.

The report has generated controversy in the Bush administration because of earlier drafts that concerned National Security Council officials by painting what they saw as an overly antagonistic picture of China, according to two people with knowledge of the report.

Two sources said the report would mention “assassin's mace” strategies a term employed during China's warring-states period that referred to secret weapons and strategies used to deceive and defeat enemies quickly which the People's Liberation Army could be developing for use against Taiwan.

The report is expected to emphasise “known unknowns” including the lack of US knowledge about the actual size of theChinese defence budget and its future military strategy.

The language is an attempt to emphasise that the US should not acceptat face value China'sstatements that it intendsto emerge as a peaceful power.

One source defended the original report, saying the Pentagon was simply responding to congressional pressure. He said Duncan Hunter, the chairman of the House armed services committee, and China hawks on the Senate armed services committee were concerned that previous reports had been too soft in assessing China's future strategies.

In recent months, senior US officials, including Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, and Porter Goss, the Central Intelligence Agency director, have voiced concerns about the rapidly expanding Chinese military.