China’s military has the
world’s “most active and diverse ballistic missile program,” with an expanding
inventory of nuclear warheads that can reach the U.S., according to a Pentagon
intelligence report.
The arsenal includes a
new submarine-launched JL-2 ballistic missile that will for the first time let
Chinese submarines target parts of the U.S. from near China’s coast, the
National Air and Space Intelligence Center said in a new assessment obtained by Bloomberg News.
China is boosting its
missile program under a broader military modernization plan that’s seen the
country’s defense spendingmore
than double since 2006. China’s neighbors including Japan and the Philippines
have expressed concern that its government is becoming more aggressive in the
region, as the U.S. also puts new emphasis on forces in the Asia-Pacific.
Some of China’s weapons
are “specifically designed to prevent adversary military forces’ access to
regional conflicts,” the report said. It’s an update to one released in 2009.
China is developing and
testing new missiles, upgrading older systems, forming new missile units and
working on ways to counter missile defenses, the report said. The number of
Chinese nuclear warheads capable of hitting the U.S. “could expand to well over
100 within the next 15 years,” it said.
China is in territorial
disputes across the region, with nations including Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam. A Japanese
defense report released June 9 said China is trying to change the regional
status quo by force. China Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying responded
by saying Japan has been “spreading the so-called China threat, creating
regional tension.”
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