As tensions rise in the South China Sea, satellite images captured by Maxar Technologies on Sunday show China has built mock-ups of US aircraft carriers and at least one destroyer on what appears to be a military firing range.
Beijing’s 'rapid growth and military upgrade' has led to fears that the country is gearing up for a confrontation with America.
"We're witnessing one of the largest shifts in global geo-strategic power the world has witnessed," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said Wednesday when speaking about China's recent military advances at a security forum discussion aired by NBC News.
"They are clearly challenging us regionally and their aspiration is to challenge the United States globally."
China’s advancements include recent hypersonic missile tests, an expanding nuclear arsenal, strides in space and cyber, and seemingly daily threats to Taiwan.
The Pentagon this month issued an annual report to Congress saying China is expanding its nuclear force much faster than US officials predicted just a year ago.
During the forum discussion, Milley called the launch indicative of "a much, much broader picture of a military capability with respect to the Chinese."
"Today, [China] has capabilities in space and cyber, land, sea, air, undersea, and they are clearly challenging us regionally.... So, we have a case here of a country that is becoming extraordinarily powerful, that wants to revise the international order to their advantage. That's going to be a real challenge over the coming years. In the next 10, 20 years. That's going to be really significant for the United States."
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has emphasized that he had "no intention of starting a new Cold War" with China after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asked the two countries to shun the volatile dynamics of hostility back in September.
Biden further decried military conflict and stressed the urgency of working together.
China's ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian has previously denied claims of its nuclear capabilities, after reports of a tested nuclear-capable hypersonic missile earlier this year, insisting that it was a routine spacecraft test to reduce the cost of spacecraft and to provide a more "convenient method for humans to travel to and from space."