Pentagon revising annual China report to account for Beijing's 'historic' reforms, new NDS

The Pentagon is updating its annual report on China's military capabilities to Congress because of historic reforms undertaken by the Chinese military last year, as well as the United States' new National Defense Strategy that emphasizes the return of "great power competition."

In a letter received by the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 28, Randall Schriver, assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, tells lawmakers the annual report on China's military and security developments will be delivered by the end of the month.

"Given historic reforms within the Chinese military in 2017 and the recent release of relevant strategy documents, including the National Security Strategy in December 2017 and the National Defense Strategy in January 2018, we respectfully request additional time in order to update several sections of the report," Schriver writes. "We are striving to ensure Congress receives the most up-to-date assessments available when the report is issued, and we anticipate delivery no later than April 30, 2018."

Last year's report found China sharpened its focus on innovation and continued a two decades-long trend of increasing its military budget to more than $180 billion in 2016.

Meanwhile, the National Defense Strategy released by the Pentagon in January states the Pentagon is shifting from a focus on counter-terrorism to “great power competition” with China and Russia.

Defense officials have warned the United States is falling behind China in areas like artificial intelligence and hypersonics.