BEIJING – A major United Stateslink> militarybuild-up is under way in Asialink> and the Pacific withthe purpose of confronting Chinalink>, accordingto award-winning journalist John Pilger. Nuclear war is no longerunthinkable.

In his film, The Coming War on China*, *Pilger warns that the world’sgreatest military power, the US, and the world’s second economic power,China, may well be on the road to war.

China has been building airstrips in the South China Sea in the disputedSpratly Islands archipelago, creating a flashpoint for war with the US.

The rise of China is viewed in Washington as a threat to Americandominance. To counter this, President Barack Obama announced a “pivot toAsia”, meaning that almost two-thirds of all US naval forces would betransferred to Asia and the Pacific, their weapons aimed at China.

“If you stood on the tallest building in Beijing and looked out on thePacific Ocean, you’d see American warships, you’d see Guam is about to sinkbecause there are so many missiles pointed at China. You’d look up at Koreaand see American armaments pointing at China, you’d see Japan which isbasically a glove over the American fist,” says James Bradley, author ofThe China Mirage.

The policy has been taken up by Obama’s successor, Donald Trumplink>, who, during hiselection campaign, said: “We can’t continue to allow China to rape ourcountry and that’s what they’re doing.”

Filmed on five possible front lines across Asia and the Pacific over thecourse of two years, the story is told in chapters that connect a secretand forgotten past to the rapacious actions of great power today, and to aresistance of which little is known in the West. – Al Jazeera