CIA chief says China's rapid military buildup troubling

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — CIA chief Michael Hayden charged Wednesday that China was beefing up its military with "remarkable speed and scope," calling the buildup "troubling."

The Chinese, he said, had fully absorbed the lessons of both Gulf wars, developing and integrating advanced weaponry into a modern military force.

Hayden said while Beijing's new capabilities could pose a risk to US forces and interests in the region, the military modernization was as much about projecting strength as anything else.

"After two centuries of perceived Western hegemony, China is determined to flex its muscle," he said in a speech at Kansas State University. "It sees an advanced military force as an essential element of great power status."

But it is the intelligence...