China has been “outpacing” the United States‘s military, turning into the biggest threat to Washington supremacy since the Cold War, a bipartisan commission has warned.
The experts noted the biggest gap between the two nations is emerging in the Western Pacific, which has been at the centre of a series of rows between Beijing and other regional actors supported by the US.
In their latest report to the US Congress, the Commission on National Defence Strategy said: “In many ways, China is outpacing the United States and has largely negated the US military advantage in the Western Pacific through two decades of focused military investment.
Beijing has heavily invested in its defence and military over the past 20 years and now boasts the largest navy in the world.
With more than 370 surface ships and submarines, China has secured a significant advantage over the US, whose navy capabilities stop at 300 vessels and submarines scattered around the world.
Most of Beijing’s assets remain concentrated in the West Pacific, where it’s been deployed to support China’s hostile strategy in the South China Sea and threaten Taiwan.
The Commission also noted that China has developed “peer or near-peer” cyber and space capabilities, warning the country could use them to disrupt crucial infrastructure and threaten the US’s ability to intervene in a conflict.
President Xi Jinping has also poured extra money into research and development to expand his country’s nuclear arsenal and expand the Chinese Air Force.
The Commission reiterated its 2022 conclusions that China is “the only competition with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to advance that objective.”
They warned the US military is facing a considerable “pacing challenge” while lagging behind Beijing in “defence production and growth in force size and, increasingly, in force capability.”
The bipartisan group recommended the Pentagon “immediately review all major systems against likely future needs, emphasising battlefield utility and prioritising agility, interoperability, and survivability.”
They also urged the United States to focus financial investment on the development of cyber, space and software capabilities