The Chinese government is spending heavily to increase its military might and is increasing spending on research into new weapon systems. China insists that it is no threat to other countries, but much of the world looks warily at the communist country and its growing power.

China's defense minister Liang Guanglie says that the country wants to modernize its military without foreign aid. Liang said, "In the coming five years, our military will push forward preparations for military conflict in every strategic direction."

Liang continues to say that China would advance its capability to fight and win future high-tech wars while boosting its conventional military arsenal. China is working on weapons that trouble some military analysts and military personnel in the U.S. with new weapons systems like the DF-21 missile which can destroy a U.S. supercarrier with a single hit.

Liang said, "We will stand on our own feet to solve the problem and develop our equipment. The modernization of the Chinese military cannot depend on others, and cannot be bought."

According to Liang, China is building up its navy, air force, and strategic missile forces. China is thought to be launching a new aircraft carrier as much as a year before analysts expected and the Chinese Air Force has a new stealth jet that has been seen recently in spy shots.  The Chinese stealth aircraft is called the J-20 and is thought to be aimed at the U.S. F-22 Raptor. Some reports have claimed that the J-20 is larger than the Raptor with more weapons and fuel capacity making some think that the aircraft may not be as fast or agile as the Raptor in a fight.

Defense News reports that U.S. Defense Secretary Ronald Gates will head to Beijing soon for talks with Chinese officials. The visit will undoubtedly be in part to talk about the fact that China is allied with North Korea. North Korea recently shelled a small South Korean island killing four people, including two civilians.