China training for ‘short sharp war’ with Japan, Navy official says

The Washington Times

Capt. James Fannell, the chief of intelligence of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, believes that China is training for war with Japan.

A recent training exercise by the Chinese military included an amphibious invasion geared toward securing Japanese resources in the East China Sea, the U.S. Naval Institute News reported.

"We witnessed the massive amphibious and cross military region enterprise — Mission Action 2013," Capt. Fannell said at the West 2014 conference on Feb. 13 in San Diego, Calif., USNI News reported.

"[We] concluded that the PLA has been given the new task to be able to conduct a short sharp war to destroy Japanese forces in the East China Sea following with what can only be expected a seizure of the Senkakus or even a southern Ryukyu [islands] — as some of their academics say."

China's military budget this year will jump from $139.2 billion in 2013 to $148 billion this year, according to a recent study by global information forecaster IHS Janes. By the end of the year, the nation will spend more on its defense budget than Britain, France and Germany combined.

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