China must boost military capabilities to prepare for conflict with US: Top generals, East Asia

BEIJING – China must strengthen its military capabilities to prepare for a possible conflict with the United States, two of its top generals have said , in a pointed acknowledgement that current tensions could spiral into armed confrontation. The comments were made during the annual meetings of China’s legislature, the National People’s Congress, that are currently under way in Beijing. General Xu Qiliang, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), cited the “Thucydides trap” in his remarks during a meeting last Friday (March 5). “Faced with the ‘Thucydides trap’ and border disturbances, the military needs to speed up efforts to…