WASHINGTON: Indian-American Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate, has lashed out at Chinese military buildup, saying the U.S. today faces the greatest military challenge from China.

"In terms of traditional military power, the greatest challenge facing the United States is China. For the past nearly 20 years, China has engaged in a massive military buildup," Jindal said in a major policy paper in defense which he co-authored with the former U.S. Senator Jim Talent.

In the paper presented yesterday, he outlined his vision, that he says will save the American military from damage done by President Barack Obama.

"The Chinese regime, for nationalistic, political, and economic reasons, is seeking a sphere of influence - a kind of hegemony - in the East and South China Seas, and wants the option of using coercion to achieve their ends," Jindal said.

"For that reason, they are purposefully and relentlessly developing the capabilities to exclude American forces from the region," said Jindal, the first Indian-American Governor of a U.S. State.

"The primary target of China's military buildup is the U.S.," he said. "It would be wrong to view China as necessarily an enemy of the United States. China is a rising power with a proud history; it is natural that the Chinese would seek to dominate their region of the world," he added.

"The means by which the Chinese will use to achieve it are unacceptable to the U.S. and its allies. America is bound by treaty to defend Japan and the Philippines, and has guaranteed de facto the territorial integrity of Taiwan," he said.

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Source: PTI