Sometimes it's nice to know that some people are still watching the big countries. In this day and age of watching Iran and North Korea a lot of what you hear about the "big boys" is about trade deficits, economic related news and Wal-Mart. Now the Pentagon is preparing to release a report on the threat of China's military. Hey, I have an idea, let's outsource more of our military hardware and software development to low wage countries! Surely nothing will ever be resold or licensed elsewhere on the black market.

Financial Times

The Pentagon is preparing to release a report on the Chinese military that warns the US that it should take more seriously the possibility that China might emerge as a strategic rival to the US, according to a senior government official.

The report has generated controversy in the Bush administration because of earlier drafts that concerned National Security Council officials by painting what they saw as an overly antagonistic picture of China, according to two people with knowledge of the report.

There were also concerns that the report could complicate US efforts to work with China to encourage North Korea to return to the negotiating table over its nuclear programme.

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Two sources said the report would mention “assassin's mace” strategies a term employed during China's warring-states period that referred to secret weapons and strategies used to deceive and defeat enemies quickly which the People's Liberation Army could be developing for use against Taiwan.

The report is expected to emphasise “known unknowns” including the lack of US knowledge about the actual size of theChinese defence budget and its future military strategy.

The language is an attempt to emphasise that the US should not acceptat face value China'sstatements that it intendsto emerge as a peaceful power.

Tipped by: Outside The Beltway