Chinese military buildup could tilt the strategic balance with Taiwan and also threaten US forces in Asia, CIA director Porter Goss said Wednesday. "Beijing's military modernisation and military buildup could tilt the balance of power in the Taiwan Strait," Goss told a hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee. "Improved Chinese capabilities threaten US forces in the region," he added in testimony to the committee assessing the main security threats to the United States.

Goss said that China is stepping efforts to "develop robust, survivable nuclear armed missiles as well as conventional capability for use in regional conflicts."

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2005