China should build the world's strongest military and move swiftly to topple the United States as the global "champion," a senior Chinese PLA Colonel Liu Mingfu says in a new book reflecting swelling nationalist ambitions.
"China's big goal in the 21st century is to become world number one, the top power," Liu writes in his newly published Chinese-language book, "The China Dream."
His 303-page book stands out for its boldness even in a recent chorus of strident Chinese voices demanding a hard shove back against Washington over trade, Tibet, human rights, and arms sales to Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing claims as its own.
Liu argues that China should use its growing revenues to become the world's biggest military power, so strong the United States "would not dare and would not be able to intervene in military conflict in the Taiwan Strait."
Liu's book was officially published in January, but is only now being sold in Beijing bookstores. (Source: Reuters, Feb 28, 2010).