A senior Chinese military official has called for an increase in the military budget for a possible war with the United States.
According to the Daily Mail, General Geo Gillian, China’s second-in-command of the armed forces after the president, said China should prepare for the “Thucydides  trap “.
The “Thucydides trap” coined by an American political scientist, refers to a situation in which war seems inevitable when a new world power replaces a previous one.
The senior Chinese military official said: “Given the trap and the border issues, the army must accelerate the development of its capabilities for a possible war.”
He added: “We need to make improvements in combat methods and capabilities and build the right infrastructure for military modernization.”
Calling for an increase in China’s military budget, he said China would soon replace the United States in terms of world economic power.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also recently warned US President Joe Biden not to cross China’s red lines, such as the “Taiwan conflict.”
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently noted in a note that military development plans and capabilities to counter the Chinese threat are a top military priority.
Some military analysts have also cited China’s efforts to develop intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities from underground silos to counter possible US nuclear strikes.
Hans Christensen, a US analyst with the Federation of Scientists, said China is developing the ability to launch advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) from underground silos to respond quickly to a possible nuclear attack.
The American expert made this statement after analyzing the satellite images that he had obtained recently.
According to him, these images show that China is seeking to counter the growing threat from the United States.
According to satellite imagery, China has begun construction of at least 16 underground silos in a large missile training area near Jilantai in the north of the country.
Almost all of the tracked silos appear to be designed to deploy the Chinese military’s Dongfeng-41 intercontinental ballistic missile, which is capable of targeting Alaska and many parts of the America.