The U.S. Defense Department on Tuesday issued an annual report on China's military power, continuing to peddle the so-called "China threat."

The new document repeated the points raised in last year's report,saying that the growth of China's military power posed a threat to the regional military power balance, which, in the long-term, could form an effective and credible threat to the armed forces of the United States and other countries in Asia.

The 2006 China Military Power Report said China's total defense-related expenditure was actually "twice or three times" the military budget declared by the Chinese government.

The 50-page report also claimed that based on the ratio of China's defense expenditure against its gross domestic product (GDP), the country's defense spending could possibly grow three-fold or more by 2025.

Starting from 2000, the U.S. Defense Department submitted a largely subjective report on China's military power annually to its Congress, and this year's report is no exception.

The document, by painting China's normal military development as "a threat" to the region and the U.S., is another example of Cold War thinking and a logic based on power.

In the near term, it said, China's military build-up "appears focused for Taiwan Strait contingencies," but also, it meant the country was now capable of fighting in a regional emergency such as a territorial conflict.

The report said that although China is limited in its ability to operate long distance military action, some aspects of its military build-up, including the pace and scope of the modernization of the country's strategic military power, had already exceeded U.S. expectations.

Meeting the main points of U.S. policy to China for a year, the report considered that "China's rapid raise as regional and economic power with global aspirations is an important element of today's strategic environment -- one that has significant implications for the region and the world."

Washington welcomes the rise of a peaceful and prosperous China, the report added.

The report said U.S. policy encouraged China to participate as a responsible international stakeholder by taking a greater share of responsibility for the health and success of the global system from which she has derived great benefit.

Meanwhile, the report also said that the U.S. and other countries had to take "precautionary measures" against what they call "unknown elements caused by China's military build-up."

Source: Xinhua