The director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Marine Corps Lieutenant General Vincent R Stewart, has identified China as one of the top five global military threats facing the United States, saying that the East Asian country "now stands firmly as a near-peer US competitor".
Speaking before the US Senate Armed Services Committee on 23 May, the DIA chief said that China is in the third decade of an "unprecedented military modernisation programme" aimed at enhancing the People's Liberation Army's (PLA's) ability to fight in regional conflicts and operate at greater distances from the Chinese mainland.
"China is improving the PLA's capability to fight short-duration, high-intensity regional conflicts by undertaking a long-term, comprehensive military modernisation programme," he said, according to a DIA statement.
