China sees Russia partnership as crucial to its great-power ambitions and is developing ability to ‘win wars’: Pentagon

China views its “no-limits” partnership with Russia as integral to advancing the PRC’s emergence as a great power, the US government said on Thursday, in assessment that also warned the Asian giant is ahead of US projections on nuclear warhead deployment and could be developing missile systems capable of hitting US targets.

The US Defence Department called out China for “providing material support” for Russia’s war, intensifying military pressure against Taiwan and ignoring repeated requests for bilateral dialogue as the country modernises in preparation to fight a “strong enemy”, which the Pentagon assumed was the US.