INSIDE THE RING

By Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough
July 8, 2005


Pentagon officials say an internal political battle has been under
way in the Bush administration over the forthcoming annual report on
China's military power.
The report was due for release several weeks ago, but was then
held up and portions have been removed and modified, said officials
familiar with the internal debate.
It is now set for release in the next week or two.
The draft report had included tough assessments of China's arms
buildup and a stark conclusion that the military balance of power
across the Taiwan Strait was shifting in Beijing's favor. The shift is
because of a sharp increase in China's arms purchases and deployments,
that include new missiles, warships, aircraft and communications gear.
Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita gave no clue to the
behind-the-scenes wrangling over the report when asked about it this
week. He acknowledged that other agencies are reviewing the report
before its release.
Mr. Di Rita said the Pentagon report "is going to build on the
knowledge of other agencies and departments" and that "we are trying
to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to weigh in on it, to
understand it."
The interagency battle over the report reflects the internal
debate within the administration between those who do not view China
as a near-term threat and those who are alarmed over China's recent
weapons deployments and statements.
For example, in the early draft of the Pentagon's four-year
defense review, China was not even included in the "terms of
reference" for the review. The exclusion of China was later rejected
by senior Pentagon and military officials as unrealistic.
Among those who do not regard China as a near-term threat are
Thomas Fingar, the former State Department intelligence analyst who is
now the U.S. intelligence community's top analyst under Director of
National Intelligence John D. Negroponte. Mr. Fingar recently hired
former Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) analyst Lonnie Henley, who
during his career at DIA developed a reputation as someone who played
down China's military developments.