Report: China building up military forces

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- China is modernizing its military with intentions of extending its influence far into the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the U.S. Defense Department says.

In its annual report to Congress on China's military, the department said the People's Liberation Army is growing in step with China's burgeoning economic power, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

Numerous areas in which China's military is advancing were outlined in the report.

The report said China is deploying a new class of nuclear-powered submarines equipped with intercontinental ballistic missiles, is funding space warfare systems and cyber-warfare capabilities, and is developing a "carrier killer" anti-ship ballistic missile.

Beijing "now possesses one of the largest" forces of surface-to-air missiles in the world, the report said, and has the "largest force of principal combatants, submarines, and amphibious warfare ships in Asia."

A main focus of China's military modernization remains Taiwan, the self-governing island of 20 million people that Beijing claims as its own territory.

As part of its buildup to threaten Taiwan, China is working to deny U.S. forces the ability to operate in the region by working on an anti-ship ballistic missile, strengthening its air defense, and building more attack submarines, the report said.

Under the Taiwan Relations Act, the United States is obligated to provide weapons for Taiwan's defense, but it is not required to defend Taiwan if it is attacked.