China PLA officer urges challenging U.S. dominance

Blog Editor Note: Not only does China have the world's largest shortwave broadcaster, but Asia is the world's hotbed of shortwave broadcast activity. Advanced shortwave broadcast listeners who monitor the world's hot spots need to keep a listening watch on Asia, specifically China and North Korea.

Reuters article by Chris Buckley

BEIJING (Reuters) - China should build the world's strongest military and move swiftly to topple the United States as the global "champion," a senior Chinese PLA officer says in a new book reflecting swelling nationalist ambitions.

The call for China to abandon modesty about its global goals and "sprint to become world number one" comes from a People's Liberation Army (PLA) Senior Colonel, Liu Mingfu, who warns that his nation's ascent will alarm Washington, risking war despite Beijing's hopes for a "peaceful rise."

"China's big goal in the 21st century is to become world number one, the top power," Liu writes in his newly published Chinese-language book, The China Dream.

"If China in the 21st century cannot become world number one, cannot become the top power, then inevitably it will become a straggler that is cast aside," writes Liu, a professor at the elite National Defense University, which trains rising officers.

His 303-page book stands out for its boldness even in a recent chorus of strident Chinese voices demanding a hard shove back against Washington over trade, Tibet, human rights, and arms sales to Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing claims as its own.

You can read the rest of this fascinating copyrighted piece online at
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6200P620100301