China’s Military Is Growing—Fast

With major advances in missile technology, naval forces and intelligence, China is well on its way to becoming by mid-century what President Xi Jinping calls a “world-class” military power. Even now, China has matched or exceeded the U.S. and Russia in some respects.

While the Pentagon struggles with a massive military industrial complex that makes the most expensive weapons in history, China has been exceptionally utilitarian. America buys weapons like Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter, which came in tens of billions of dollars over-budget, years late and riddled with defects. Beijing buys weapons that are much cheaper—including missiles that can sink America’s vaunted aircraft carriers—while developing next-level arms like hypersonic missiles.