New DelhiThe US has identified China as “the most consequential strategic competitor for decades to come”, whose “coercive strategy” is the most widespread and serious challenge to US national security.
The United States National Defense Strategy, released late Thursday by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, directed the Defense Department to “act urgently” to maintain US deterrence and to inform the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Department’s “Pacing Challenge”.
However, it noted that “conflict with the PRC is neither inevitable nor desirable”.
It also identified Russia as a “serious threat” and said the challenge to the United States and its allies and partners is to create new tensions on strategic stability from the two major powers – the PRC and Russia – with modern and diverse nuclear capabilities. will have to face.
The Defense Strategy Paper, which served as the guiding principles for the US Department of Defense, made a clear shift from the terror angle to the threat to the homeland, saying that the scope and scale of threats to the homeland (US) have fundamentally changed.
It added that the PRC and Russia now present more dangerous challenges to the safety and security of their home countries, even if terrorist threats remain.
Its tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India and China have been mentioned three times in the 80-page document, which states that the department should “maintain our key defense partnership with India to deter PRC aggression and ensure an independent and Will go ahead to increase the capacity to ensure open. Access to the Indian Ocean region”.
It was also noted that the Department would undertake collaborative and partner efforts in accordance with US policy and international law to address acute forms of gray zone coercion from the PRC’s campaigns to establish control over the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea. will also support. , and disputed land borders, such as with India.
At the same time, the department will continue to prioritize maintaining open lines of communication with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China and managing competition responsibly.
It is noteworthy that the U.S. 2022 National Security Strategy Issued earlier this month that the PRC is “the only country with the intention of reshaping the international order, and increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to do so”, Austin said China is our The most important strategy is to be competitive for decades to come.
“I am deeply aware of the PRC’s clearly stated intentions and rapid modernization and expansion of its military, as well as the PRC’s increasingly coercive actions to fit the Indo-Pacific region and the international system into its authoritarian priorities. I have come to this conclusion on the basis of that,” Austin said.
read also, US sees Sino-Russia relations, PLA as major concern from Xi’s third term, Pew poll finds
‘Part of the wider instability, the PRC’s coercive behavior’
The defense strategy states that the PRC seeks to undermine US alliances and security partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region, and to coerce its neighbors and jeopardize their interests through its economic influence and the growing power and military footprint of the PLA. including to take advantage of its growing capabilities. document.
It said the PRC’s increasingly provocative rhetoric and coercive activity toward Taiwan is destabilizing, misrepresenting and threatening the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait.
“This is part of a broader pattern of destabilizing and coercive PRC behavior spanning the East China Sea, the South China Sea and the Line of Actual Control,” the document said.
Noting that the PRC has expanded and modernized nearly every aspect of the PLA, with a focus on offsetting US military gains, the document concluded that the PRC therefore poses a “pacing challenge” for the department.
It said that in addition to expanding its conventional forces, the PLA is rapidly advancing and integrating its space, counterspace, cyber, electronic and information warfare capabilities to support its holistic approach to joint warfare. Is.
“The PLA seeks to target the ability of the (US) combined force to protect vital US interests and assist our allies in crisis or conflict,” the document said.
It added: “The PRC is also expanding the PLA’s global footprint and working to establish more robust infrastructure overseas to allow it to project military power over greater distances. In parallel. , the PRC is accelerating the modernization and expansion of its nuclear capabilities.”
(Edited by Polomi Banerjee)
read also, US appoints another new interim envoy for India, but no full-time ambassador for last 22 months