China is rapidly building robust lethal force to impose its will in the region: US official

China is rapidly building a robust lethal force with advanced capabilities in the air, at sea, in space and in cyberspace that will enable it to impose its will in the region and beyond, a top US intelligence official said on Tuesday.

"The strategic objectives of the Chinese Communist Party include securing China's status as a great power," Dan Taylor, Senior Defense Intelligence Analyst, told reporters at a Pentagon news conference here on the occasion of release of a Congressional-mandated report "China: Military power modernizing a force to fight and win" by the Department of Defense.

He said that Chinese leaders characterised their long-term military modernisation programme as essential to achieving the "great power status".

"Indeed, China is rapidly building a robust lethal force with capabilities spanning the ground, air, maritime, space and information domains, designed to enable Beijing to impose its will in the region and beyond," Taylor said.

During the past decade, from ...