HONOLULU -- Surely the most pressing security question confronting the United States in Asia and the nations of Asia themselves is: "Will China become a serious military threat in the western Pacific?"
The search for an answer has lately picked up steam. RAND researchers have just issued a study assessing China's considerable financial resources devoted to its military power. The Pentagon says "China is facing a strategic crossroads." The Japanese Self-Defense Agency's new white paper contends that China's military modernization needs to be closely monitored.
A book, "China's Rise in Asia," by a former senior analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency, Robert Sutter, reports that many Americans are wary of China's military intentions. Even business writer Ted Fishman worries in a volume on economics, "China Inc.," that Beijing seeks to "expand the country's military ambitions."
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