In my experience studying the work of the People's Republic of China, including the development of the joint research agreement between the Beijing Institute of International Strategic Studies and the Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies while I was its director, I have gained the view that Chinese strategic policy is extremely cautious. The works of the great General Hsu basically said it is best to avoid battle and achieve your victories in other ways. He suggested that if you're out looking for a general to hire and you have the choice of one who has won a hundred battles, then stay away from him, because he is a person who will take you into battle, which is going to be very costly.
Having said that, the People's Republic of China has been devoting an enormous amount of money to the acquisition of new, modern equipment. Some of it is very impressive.
I think you will find that there will continue to be a maneuvering—an arms race, shall we say—between the technology-driven sides of both the Americans and the Chinese, as well as a drive for new capital acquisitions by the local countries in the southeastern and east Asian area.
I am not prepared to predict whether or not we will ever be in conflict directly with the Chinese. That simply is something to which producing a credible response becomes too speculative. But what we must be able to do is match the technology that is developing around the world to ensure that if the time comes in which action takes place, our troops are equipped to the best possible level in order to survive and achieve the objectives we have for them.