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Download Although the United States has toned down accusations about China's military expansion in its report released on Friday, some judgments made by the Pentagon might still further disrupt rocky Sino-US military ties, some analysts have said. In its annual report on the development of China's military, the US Department of Defense said China is pursuing fast military modernization to help expand its economic and diplomatic interests around the world, including the possible construction of China's first domestically built aircraft-carrier. It also claimed China was carrying out aggressive cyber espionage. It further pointed out that many of the cases of global cyber intrusion and data theft in 2011 originated within China, and it said the Chinese government is using cyber technology to collect strategic intelligence from the US government and private companies. Beijing expressed its "firm opposition" to the findings of the annual assessment. The release of the report was also coupled with an action in the US House of Representatives, which voted to force President Barack Obama's administration to authorize the sale of 66 new fighter jets to Taiwan, which China considers to be historically part of its territory. However, the measure, part of the National Defense Authorization Act, is not likely to get further approval from the Senate, according to US media. This year's report is much shorter than previous ones, and it was released in a low-profile manner. Some US analysts and media said that the annual assessment of China's military resembled previous reports but adopted more diplomatic language -possibly to avoid aggravating delicate relations with Beijing. | 
