February 28, 2007	Wednesday	Safar 10, 1428

WASHINGTON, Feb 27: China’s military modernisation is aimed at achieving parity with the United States and not limited to its drive for reunification with Taiwan, the US intelligence chief said on Tuesday.

Retired admiral Michael McConnell, the new director of national intelligence, said China could be a threat to the United States today because of its intercontinental nuclear missiles and will be an increasing threat as it modernises its military. But he later retracted the remark.

“It's a matter of their building their military, in my view, to reach some sort of state of parity with the United States,” he said. “So in a threat sense it becomes intention. They are a threat today, they will become an increasing threat over time,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

When Senator Carl Levin, the committee chairman, asked McConnell whether he meant to say China will be an increasing threat rather than have an increasing capability, McConnell said: “Yes sir. What I was attempting to say is they will improve their capability over time.”

In a prepared statement surveying threats facing the United States, McConnell said China's rapid rate of military modernisation would continue even if the Taiwan problem is resolved.

“The Chinese are developing more capable long-range conventional strike systems and short- and medium-range ballistic missiles with terminally guided manoeuvrable warheads able to attack US carriers and air bases,” it said.

Thomas Fingar, the deputy director of national intelligence, said the Chinese `appear to have decided that we are not an enemy’. “They require a peaceful international environment in order to proceed with economic modernisation in order to address their severe social problems, but they are a country with a history in their view of having been victimised by stronger external powers,” he said.

“And they take national defence, including lessons learned out of Desert Shield/Desert Storm forward defence, to heart,” he said.

In response to questions, McConnell said that in his view a greater threat is that China may be beset by internal strife if it fails to meet its economic growth plan.

In his prepared statement, he said rural discontent has erupted in the form of an increasing number of local demonstrations and riots and could undermine China's continued rapid economic growth if undermined.—AFP