US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told an audience at the Brookings Institution on Monday that China poses a much more concerning threat to US capabilities than Russia.

"Of the two I am much more concerned about China than Russia," Kendall said. "They have the resources, they have the capability [and] they have the intent." 

More to the point, the Secretary said that China has the time to mature its long-term military capabilities, which are designed to defeat the US' long-term capabilities to project its power around the world.

Explaining this, he said that China has the ambition to become the world's next great power. 

"They have the ambition to be the great global power and to do that they have to basically displace the United States."

However, Kendall revealed he did not think China was interested in territorial expansion but was interested in maximizing its global influence so that it can set the rules for the world's economy.