US defense officials have assessed that China continues to steadily advance toward its goal of achieving “strategic decisive victory” over Taiwan by 2027.
The US Department of Defense on Tuesday released its first annual report on Chinese military developments since President Donald Trump’s second term started in January.
The report says China’s military continues to make steady progress toward its “2027 goals” of achieving “strategic decisive victory” over Taiwan, and “strategic counterbalance” against the United States in the nuclear and other strategic domains.
The Pentagon report goes on to say that in pursuit of these goals, Beijing continues to refine multiple military options “to force Taiwan unification.” It says “those options include, most dangerously, an amphibious invasion, firepower strike, and possibly a maritime blockade.”
It notes that Chinese military’s strikes could potentially range up to about 3,500 kilometers from China. It says those strikes could seriously challenge and disrupt the US presence in or around a conflict zone in the Asia-Pacific region.
The report also says China’s stockpile of nuclear warheads remained in the low 600s through 2024, and the country remains on track to have over 1,000 warheads by 2030.
Regarding aircraft carriers, the report says China aims to increase the number from the current three to a total of nine by 2035.
Meanwhile, the report says that under President Trump’s leadership, relations between the US and China are stronger than they have been in many years.
It goes on to say that the department will support efforts to build on this progress, in part by opening a wider range of military-to-military communications.