The Chinese military is undergoing a “historic military buildup“ that is making the United States “increasingly vulnerable“, Bloomberg reports, citing the latest Pentagon report on Chinese military capabilities.
It was released at the request of Congress for the first time during Donald Trump's second term.
The document notes that China and Russia continue to deepen their strategic partnership to counter the United States.
In addition, the report mentions China's “large and growing arsenal“ – nuclear, naval, long-range conventional weapons, cyber and space weapons – that could “directly threaten American security“.
Despite slowing production (to just over 600 warheads by 2024), the Chinese military is continuing its massive “nuclear expansion” and is still aiming to acquire more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, according to the Pentagon. The department said the country also likely has more than 100 DF-31 intercontinental ballistic missiles in three silos in the north of the country.
The report claims that China hopes to launch a war against Taiwan and win by the end of 2027. According to the Defense Department, Beijing is developing several military options for “forcibly annexing Taiwan“, ranging from an amphibious operation to a naval blockade.
The penultimate edition of the report, published during the Biden administration in December 2024, warns that China is the only competitor to the United States with “the intent and growing ability to change the international order”, Bloomberg reported. It also emphasizes the importance of countering the challenge posed by “an increasingly capable military” of China.
The new edition, in addition to a “decisive victory“ over Taiwan, cites Beijing's goals as “a strategic counterweight“ to the United States and “strategic deterrence and control“ over other countries in the region.
Breaking Defense analysts wrote in November that, due to its depleted maritime logistics infrastructure, the US could lose a war with China “before even firing a shot”. Experts have attributed Beijing's modernization and expansion of its nuclear capabilities to a desire to respond to growing U.S. military capabilities, including missile defense and precision-guided weapons, and to address growing disagreements with Western countries over human rights, democracy, and international norms.
Beijing has described reports of the military buildup as attempts to “slander China and deliberately mislead the international community”.