China poses an increasing challenge to the US military's technological edge while budget pressures are hampering Washington's effort to stay ahead, a senior defense official warned on Tuesday.

Frank Kendall, the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer, told lawmakers that when it comes to "technological superiority, the Department of Defense is being challenged in ways that I have not seen for decades, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region."

Citing China's major investments in anti-ship missiles, stealth fighter jets, hypersonic vehicles and other hi-tech weaponry, Kendall said the United States could lose its dominant position if it failed to respond to the altered strategic landscape.

"Technological superiority is not assured and we cannot be complacent about our posture," he told the House Armed Services Committee.

Asked to assess what one lawmaker called an arms race between the two countries, Kendall said there was cause for concern as China dramatically increases its military spending.

"Their budget is far smaller than ours, but their personnel costs are also far smaller than ours," said Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.

"Our budgets are going in the opposite direction. So just by that metric alone, it's not positive."

Lawmakers and defense analysts say China is making strides in modernizing its military, particularly in the area of so-called "anti-access" weapons -- such as missiles and electronic jamming systems -- that could potentially limit the reach of US aircraft carriers or warplanes.

Kendall said when he returned to the Pentagon after being away for 15 years, he was "struck immediately by the nature, scope and quality of the investments that are being made in A2AD, as we call it, anti-access area denial capabilities."

As a result, the Pentagon is "looking very carefully at Pacific Command's requirements and what they need for the operations in that area," he said.

Kendall added that Washington was concerned about China exporting its newer weapons abroad.

Echoing Kendall's wider concerns, Admiral Samuel Locklear, head of US Pacific Command, said last week that the American military's "relative dominance" is declining as other countries invest in sophisticated weapons.

The admiral, however, said it was "not something to be afraid of" and that the US had to be "pragmatic" as it plans for the future.

Kendall, however, said that mandatory budget cuts adopted by Congress were tying the Pentagon's hands as it tries to maintain America's military power.

"Our ability within the department to respond to that challenge is severely limited by the current budget situation," he cautioned.

While the department grapples with the uncertainty triggered by the automatic budget cuts, "we are losing time, an asset that we can never recover," he said.

US envoy nominee to counsel caution to China, Japan
Washington (AFP) Jan 28, 2014 - Senator Max Baucus, tapped to be US ambassador to China, called Tuesday on all nations including Japan to exercise caution over territorial rows which he warned could flare into conflict.

In a confirmation hearing before fellow senators, the veteran Democratic Party politician repeatedly said he would encourage China to abide by "international rules" but portrayed himself as a pragmatist whose views of the growing Asian power would be "grounded in reality."

Baucus said that China's sudden imposition in November of an Air Defense Identification Zone in the East China Sea -- which asks planes to report to Beijing when flying over islands administered by US ally Japan -- was "unfortunate." He vowed to raise the issue "to discourage other potential actions that China may take."

But Baucus said that he used a recent visit to Japan, whose Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is known for his hard line on China, to "counsel caution, counsel reduced tension, counsel to back off here a little."

"Because otherwise we run the risk of a major dispute -- a major problem -- where if tensions are high there could be a miscalculation," Baucus told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Baucus said he would "stress that all sides must work together to manage and resolve sovereignty disputes without coercion or use of force."

Senator John McCain, a former Republican presidential candidate known for his hawkish views, attacked Baucus' understanding of China. McCain said that China's maritime moves "could lead to another Guns of August," a reference to the events that triggered World War I a century ago and which Abe also recently evoked.

"Their aggressive behavior -- whether it be a mere collision with a United States ship or the imposition of the ADIZ, or whether it be many of the other actions they have taken -- are part of a pattern of their ambition to dominate that part of the world," McCain said.

Baucus replied that he "largely" agreed with McCain's views on China and had "eyes wide open" but said it was critical to "try to find common ground" where possible.

The 72-year-old Baucus said that he has had a "fascination" with China dating back to university, when he spent a year backpacking around Asia. But he acknowledged to fellow senators, "I'm no real expert on China."

Pressing 'rules' on trade and human rights

Despite his critique, McCain joined other Republicans in supporting the confirmation of Baucus who is virtually certain to succeed Gary Locke, the former Washington governor who is the first Chinese American to be US ambassador to Beijing.

Baucus distanced himself from President Xi Jinping's frequent calls for China and the United States to develop a "new type of major-power relationship." President Barack Obama's administration had initially welcomed Xi's theme, which some US experts saw as innocuous and vague but others viewed with suspicion.

Under questioning, Baucus said that the United States "should be very wary" of Xi's new relationship model which "is not an approach that makes sense to me."

"It's frankly one that suggests that China take care of its own issues in China, whether it's the human rights issues, or whether it's Taiwan" or islands contested with Japan, Baucus said.

Baucus said he considered human rights, including treatment of minorities, "extremely important." On an earlier trip to China, Baucus said he pressed then president Jiang Zemin to release a Tibetan activist who was freed weeks later.

But Baucus was non-committal on Republican calls to visit an unauthorized church, saying his main priority was to find an "effective" way to champion human rights.

Baucus, who has represented the ranching state of Montana in the Senate since 1978, is most associated on the international stage with advocating free trade agreements and pressing to remove restrictions on US beef.

Baucus said he would work to achieve "concrete results" on trade concerns, including greater protection by China of the intellectual property rights of US companies.

"China must be fully invested in the global rules-based economic system," Baucus said.