ENGLISH DEYEA NEWS

The Star | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China's limited transparency about its rapidly expanding military capabilities creates uncertainty and risks of miscalculation, the Pentagon said in a report released on Wednesday.

Aerial view of the United States military headquarters, the Pentagon, in this September 28, 2008 file photo. China's limited transparency about its rapidly expanding military capabilities creates uncertainty and risks of miscalculation, the Pentagon said in a report released on Wednesday. (REUTERS/Jason Reed/Files)

The annual report to the U.S. Congress on Chinese military power said China's People's Liberation Army has "left unclear to the international community the purposes and objectives of the PLA's evolving doctrine and capabilities."

The report comes just weeks after Chinese boats jostled with a U.S. Navy surveillance ship in the South China Sea in a confrontation that heightened tensions over Chinese military activities near its coasts.

Risks to the United States and its allies in the Pacific region arise from incomplete defense spending figures and actions that appear inconsistent with declared policies, said the report, the first under the Obama administration.

"The limited transparency in China's military and security affairs poses risks to stability by creating uncertainty and increasing the potential for misunderstanding and miscalculation," the report said.

(photo: AP / Alexander F. Yuan)

As it has in past years, the Pentagon analysis noted China is developing weapons that would disable its enemies' space technology such as satellites, and boosting its information and electromagnetic warfare capabilities.

In the Taiwan Strait, the balance of forces continued to shift in China's favor as China built up its arsenal of short-range missiles opposite Taiwan.

Beijing usually criticizes the Pentagon report, saying it unfairly portrays China as a military threat when it is committed to a "peaceful rise" as its economic power grows.