China is actively developing its fleet of long-range bombers and “likely” training its pilots for missions targeting the US, according to a new Pentagon report released on Thursday.
“Over the last three years, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has rapidly expanded its overwater bomber operating areas, gaining experience in critical maritime regions and likely training for strikes against US and allied targets,” the report said.
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The “Annual Report on Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China” is a US government report mandated by Congress, which details Chinese military developments over the previous year.
This year’s report also claims that China is pursuing a nuclear capability on its long-range bombers, saying the Chinese air force “has been re-assigned a nuclear mission,” the CNN reported on Friday.
“The deployment and integration of nuclear capable bombers would, for the first time, provide China with a nuclear ‘triad’ of delivery systems dispersed across land, sea, and air,” the report said.
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The United States released a new Defense Strategy at the beginning of 2018 where it proclaimed “long-term strategic competitions with China” as one of the US military’s top challenges.
The Pentagon’s report also pointed out how China was rapidly boosting its space program.
“The PLA continues to strengthen its military space capabilities despite its public stance against the militarization of space,” it said. “[China wants] to expand space surveillance capabilities that can monitor objects across the globe and in space and enable counterspace actions.”
The Trump administration, meanwhile, hopes to get its “Space Force” off the ground by 2020.
The Pentagon released its assessment on Thursday as tensions continue to rise between the US and China over trade and disagreements over Beijing’s actions in Taiwan and the South China Sea.
Meanwhile the a statement by the Chinese Ministry of Defense spokesman Wu Qian on Tuesday said the United States was”full of Cold War mentality.”
“A man cannot prosper without honesty, the same is true for a country,” Wu said. “We urge the US to stick to its promises to China regarding Taiwan question, and uphold the one-China policy.”