The Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) guided missiles pose a larger threat than aircraft carriers to Taiwan in the estimation of a former senior US commander, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest quarterly report on China.
The PLA’s anticipated launch of the aircraft carrier Fujian scheduled for last month was not mentioned in the final written report to the US Congress by admiral John Aquilino, the then-commander of the Indo-Pacific Command, the council said.
Beijing continued to carry out a comprehensive military modernization program to transform the PLA into an integrated, joint, high-tech and network-centric force, the council cited Aquilino as saying in the report summarizing Chinese military developments during his tenure.
Photo: Reuters
China over the past four years has increased its official military budget from US$192 billion to US$223.5 billion, marking growth of 16 percent amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a downturn in its economy, he said.
The PLA deployed 400 new fourth or fifth-generation fighter aircraft, 20 major warships, including cruisers, destroyers and frigates, and more than doubled its cruise missile and ballistic missile stockpile, he said.
China has also increased the number of satellite launches it conducts by 50 percent, achieving a fivefold increase since 2020, Aquilino said.
In the same period, Beijing has rapidly enlarged its nuclear arsenal, increasing the number of warheads in its inventory by more than 100 percent, he said.
China showed an increasing focus on strengthening its capabilities to project power and challenge adversaries beyond the first island chain, Aquilino said.
These new capabilities included rapidly increasing the number of guided-missile cruisers, destroyers and cruise missile submarines able to contend with opponents outside the first island chain, he said.
More than half of the PLA’s fighter jets were of the fourth or fifth generation, capable of anti-access and area denial operations in the west Pacific, while stealth bombers with the capability to reach the second island chain were under development, he said.
Beijing’s investment in modern, long-range weapon systems was almost certainly made with countering third-party interference in mind, Aquilino said.
China increased its medium- and long-range missile stockpile by 60 percent and is developing new long-range capabilities including DF-27 ballistic missiles that could strike targets beyond the second island chain, he said.
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