Pentagon: China Building Military Might

A Chinese worker is dwarfed by the steel products at a steel market in Shenyang, northeastern China's Liaoning province Friday May 25, 2007. China is both the world's largest consumer and producer of steel. Crude steel output rose by 19.5 percent to 423 million tons last year _ about 35 percent of total production worldwide _ and is forecast to climb at a similar rate to 460 million tons this year. (AP Photo) (AP)

"This logic suggests the potential for China to engage in military preemption, perhaps far from its borders, if the use of force protects or advances core interests, including territorial claims," the report said.

Attempting to capture the essence of China's strategy, the report quoted former supreme leader Deng Xiaoping's guidance, known as the 24-character maxim, which says in part, "hide our capacities and bide our time; be good at maintaining a low profile."

"It suggests both a short-term desire to play down China's capabilities and avoid confrontation, and a long-term strategy to build up China's power to maximize options for the future," the Pentagon report said.

Rodman said he believes there is reason for concern that China's long-range aim is to "revise the existing balance of power in the world, but they are patient and they are just doing this quietly; they think long term."

Rodman added that because U.S. officials are closely monitoring China's growing military strength and sophistication, "We can handle this, as part of our overall relationship, and we're not asleep at maintaining our own capability."

The Pentagon highlighted its concern about Beijing's anti-satellite test in which a missile was used to destroy one of China's old weather satellites in low-Earth polar orbit; the January test was China's first.

"The test put at risk the assets of all space-faring nations and posed dangers to human space flight due to the creation of an unprecedented amount of debris," the report said, adding that this is an important expansion of China's pursuit of weaponry and strategies that are designed to deny U.S. forces access to areas in Asia.

Rodman said the Bush administration knew in advance that China planned to conduct the January test but it chose not to address it with the Chinese because U.S. officials were convinced Beijing would go ahead with it regardless.

China has purchased UHF-band satellite communications jammers and is developing other technologies and concepts for weapons with anti-satellite missions, the report said. It also is improving its ability to identify and track satellites, "a prerequisite for effective, precise physical attacks," the report added.

The report was presented to Congress on Friday, just days before Defense Secretary Robert Gates travels to Singapore to address an international conference on Asian security issues, where China is likely to be a key topic.