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The Pentagon in its new report on Wednesday revealed that a widespread anticorruption campaign within the senior levels of the Chinese military and government is impeding its push to build up its military by 2027, CNN reported.
While addressing a briefing on the China Military Power report, which is delivered to Congress annually and outlines China's military and security developments, a senior US defence official noted that at least 15 high ranking military officials and defence industry executives were removed from their posts in China over corruption in the second half of 2023. A US senior defence official said, "In the second half of 2023 alone, at least 15 high ranking military officials and defense industry executives were removed from their posts for corruption ... This wave of corruption related investigations and the removal of senior leaders may have disrupted the [People's Liberation Army's] progress toward its 2027 goals." The official said that it is "having some impact already" and will "inevitably" come up again as the Pentagon continues to monitor the effect of campaign on the manufacturing and acquisition of military capabilities, as well as major construction projects and personnel, according to CNN report. According to the report, China is "almost certainly" learning from Russia's war in Ukraine and applying those lessons to its approach to Taiwan. The senior US defence official said China wants to "advance their objectives" in the information space and witnessed the sanctions against Russia as a signal that China needs to be more self-reliant to be able to face additional penalties. The report said China has an estimated 600 operational nuclear warheads, witnessing a rise of roughly 100 since the release of the report last year. It said that they will have over 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by 2030. The senior US defense official said it was in accordance with their previous assessments and added that they certainly expect China will "continue expanding and modernizing their force" beyond 2030. Chinese President Xi Jinping has announced an ambitious plan to "modernize" the PLA by 2035 and transform it into a "world class" military by mid-century. US officials believe Xi has asked the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. However, the American officials have stressed that does not mean an invasion will occur in 2027. The Pentagon report has highlighted recent incidents of senior officials within the military, government, and defense industry, being fired or investigated. Earlier in November, a top military official considered as a close protege of Xi was suspended and placed under investigation for corruption. The senior US official said that while more senior people within China's military get the most attention, personnel are purged "at all levels." According to the report released on Wednesday, the political leaders in China "probably view" the campaign against corruption "a necessary tool to build a professional fighting force as part of the PLA's 2027 modernization goals." The senior US defence official noted that "frequent turnover and replacement of high-level personnel" particularly is what is affecting the PLA's goal to be achieved in 2027, CNN reported. According to experts, corruption within the defence industry is not unsurprising considering China's relentless focus on increasing its procurement of weapons systems and warships. The senior US official said, "[O]nce they uncover corruption in one place or involving one senior official, there's sort of a bit of a spiraling kind of effect where it inevitably seems to draw in additional officials." They added it was unlikely Xi would stop the anticorruption campaign, as he has made it a "hallmark of his tenure," CNN reported. The US official said, "I think they've identified it as something that really has posed great risks to the political reliability and ultimately the operational capability of the PLA, adding, "so I would certainly expect them to continue to pursue the anticorruption campaign." (ANI)
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