World News and Trends: China's rapid military expansion
Expectations are set for China's military to grow beyond that of it's western rivals.
Perhaps the most worrying news out of the People's Republic of China is its rapid military expansion. A headline in The Daily Telegraph reads: " Beijing 's Military Will Soon Match Its Rivals, Say Experts" (Sept. 29, 2008). Defense correspondent Thomas Harding further wrote that "China is rapidly developing a highly modern military that will be the equal of Western armies" (ibid.).
Christopher Foss, editor of Jane's Armour and Artillery, related that "China is developing a modern, highly manoeuvrable force able to operate anywhere as well as, if not better than, Western armies." By 2015 the expectation is that China will possess six Jin-class submarines with the capacity "of firing the JL2 ballistic nuclear missile that could threaten both the western and eastern American seaboards" (ibid.).