{"id":1904053,"date":"2023-03-23T21:10:40","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T01:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/china-not-ready-to-take-on-us-but-is-rapidly-closing-the-gap-generals-testify\/"},"modified":"2023-03-23T21:17:13","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T01:17:13","slug":"china-not-ready-to-take-on-us-but-is-rapidly-closing-the-gap-generals-testify","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/china-not-ready-to-take-on-us-but-is-rapidly-closing-the-gap-generals-testify\/","title":{"rendered":"China Not Ready to Take on US, but Is \u2018Rapidly Closing the Gap,\u2019 Generals Testify"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fchina-not-ready-to-take-on-us-but-is-rapidly-closing-the-gap-generals-testify%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1904053&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"post_content\">\n<p>China\u2019s military planners publicly proclaim the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will be the world\u2019s dominant military power by 2049, and the first step in that ascension is controlling the South China Sea to incorporate Taiwan, by force if necessary, into the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) by 2027.<\/p>\n<p>None of this is going to happen, Secretary of Defense Gen. Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told the House Appropriations Committee\u2019s Defense Appropriations Subcommittee during a marathon March 23 hearing on the Biden administration\u2019s $863 billion Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) defense budget request.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a strategy-driven budget\u2014and one driven by the seriousness of our strategic competition with the People\u2019s Republic of China,\u201d Austin testified. \u201cThe PRC is our pacing challenge. And we\u2019re driving hard to meet it. We\u2019re investing in a more resilient force posture in the Indo-Pacific and increasing the scale and scope of our exercises with our partners.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRight now, today, as we sit here, we are currently standing watch on freedom\u2019s frontier with nearly a quarter of a million troops\u2014250,000 troops\u2014in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and South America,\u201d Milley said, noting at least 120,000 of those troops are stationed in forward-deployed installations \u201cwest of the date line,\u201d or western Pacific and Indian oceans, and more are coming.<\/p>\n<p>The two generals and Pentagon Chief Financial Officer Michael McCord ferreted through the constellation of challenges facing the United States and its allies during the hearing, covering everything from boosting the nation\u2019s industrial capacity to sustaining munitions supplies being taxed by the \u201cburn rate\u201d in Ukraine to threats posed by Vladimir Putin\u2019s Russia, North Korea, Iran, and terrorist organizations around the globe.<\/p>\n<p>But China\u2019s extensive military modernization over the last decade and increasingly aggressive posture in the South China Sea, where it is building bases on man-made islands straddling sea and air trade routes, and in menacing Taiwan, was the recurrent top theme of the hearing.<\/p>\n<p>The House panel peppered the generals and McCord about the specifics in how the United States is preparing Taiwan for an invasion by the PRC\u2019s military, which is openly violating the island\u2019s air and sea spaces in practice invasions.<\/p>\n<p>Although the PRC has been engaged in a decade-long military build-up, subcommittee Chair Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) said it has become more openly hostile and bold in its adventurism by President Joe Biden\u2019s \u201cweakness\u201d since he assumed office in January 2021.<\/p>\n<p>The nation faces many \u201cgeopolitical challenges,\u201d he said, that are \u201ccompounded by China\u2019s rapid military modernization. They\u2019re building up to take Taiwan. Weakness is provocative. This administration\u2019s weakness has emboldened authoritarians around the world\u201d\u2014most notably, the CCP-led PRC.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5117119\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript> Two 8-inch self-propelled artillery guns are fired during the 35th \u201cHan Kuang\u201d (Han Glory) military drill in southern Taiwan\u2019s Pingtung county on May 30, 2019. (Sam Yeh\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Defending Taiwan<\/h2>\n<p>The three Pentagon officials said the United States is taking numerous steps to provide Taiwan with a \u201cporcupine\u201d strategy that would make an invasion too costly for the PRC to win, never mind potentially lose.<\/p>\n<p>The budget request includes $9.1 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, a 40-percent increase over last year\u2019s defense budget, to better defend Hawaii and Guam, and build \u201cresilient and distributed air basing, new missile warning and tracking architecture, construction to enable enhanced posture \u2026 and multinational information sharing, training, and experimentation\u201d across the region.<\/p>\n<p>The Philippines has agreed to nearly double the number of bases where American forces can operate and Japan has doubled its defense spending, they said.<\/p>\n<p>The 12th Marine Littoral Regiment, which Austin described as \u201cone of the most advanced formations in the Corps\u201d is being deployed to Okinawa \u201cso that we can better deter conflict in the First Island Chain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The U.S., Australia, and the United Kingdom has formed the \u201cAUKUS partnership\u201d that will \u201cbuild game-changing defense advantages that will deter aggression, promote a free and open Indo-Pacific, and boost our defense industrial capability,\u201d Austin said.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. is deploying up to 200 military specialists, including special-operations forces and Marines, to Taiwan to bolster training programs, the largest deployment of American forces in decades on the island, while the Michigan National Guard is engaged in \u201cbattalion-sized\u201d training of Taiwanese military at Camp Grayling in northern Michigan.<\/p>\n<p>The FY24 military budget request include<span style=\"color: #000000;\">s $170 billion for new weapons systems, \u201ct<\/span>he largest procurement budget in the nation\u2019s history,\u201d including<span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0$61 billion <\/span>to \u201cdevelop, modernize and procure lethal air power\u201d in direct challenge to China\u2019s investments in naval and air defense advances in the Pentagon\u2019s Indo-Pacific theater of operations, Austin said.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed $170 billion procurement proposal also includes<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> $48.1 billion for three new submarines and four destroyers\/frigates <\/span>designed to thwart a Chinese Navy that, numerically, is the world\u2019s largest<\/p>\n<p>In addition, in direct response to China investments, the Pentagon is seeking<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> $29.8 billion for missile \u201cdefeat and defense\u201d programs and $11 billion to develop hypersonic and long-range subsonic missiles.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a budget that will meet the moment,\u201d Austin said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4380730\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript> U.S. Marines take part in a joint amphibious assault exercise as part of the annual \u2018Balikatan\u2019 U.S.-Philippines war exercises in the South China Sea in March 2022.\u00a0 (Photo by Ezra Acayan\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Alliances, Accelerated Procurement<\/h2>\n<p>Calvert wasn\u2019t so sure the Pentagon\u2019s budget is meeting the moment, not when \u201cChina is building 20 ships a year\u201d and now has more than 400 ships in its navy \u201cand, as I understand, capable vessels.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is happening while the U.S. Navy wants to decommission 11 ships, including eight before their planned \u201cservice life\u201d is expired, while seeking to build nine ships, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Under the current plan, Calvert said, the U.S. Navy would have a 291-ship fleet by FY28, when the PRC says it will be ready to invade Taiwan, despite having a goal of 371 ships by then. The navy is also down at least two squadrons for its aircraft carriers, he added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow does having fewer ships deter China\u2019s aggression in the Indo-Pacific?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have the most powerful and dominant navy in the world and we will continue to ensure it remains that way,\u201d Austin said, noting the $48 billion for nine new navy ships is the largest single-year procurement request for warships in decades. \u201cI am comfortable that we are moving in the right direction.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can\u2019t catch a ball in left field if you only have a guy in right field. Numbers do matter,\u201d Calvert said, noting the Pentagon has yet to produce an updated 30-year ship-building plan.<\/p>\n<p>Austin and Milley said numbers don\u2019t tell the whole story, especially since the United States would not be taking the PRC on by itself but operating with Japan, the Philippines, Australia, Canada, the UK, with support across Micronesia in the South Pacific.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur network of allies and partners magnifies our power and expands our security. And no other country on Earth has anything like it,\u201d Austin said. \u201cWe always fight with our allies and partners. The capacity they bring to table multiplies our overall capacities in any instance. We will be able to draw on their capabilities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe United States never fights alone.\u201d Milley reiterated. \u201cA key source of our strength to keep the peace and prevail in war is our large global network of alliances and partnerships.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These are advantages the PRC and Putin\u2019s Russia, for that matter, do not have, the generals said.<\/p>\n<p>Nor is the PRC as proficient operationally as U.S. forces, Milley said. \u201cJust this month,\u201d U.S. forces around the globe participated in 63 joint operations and exercises with allies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn a weekly basis,\u201d he continued, \u201cthe U.S. military moves the equivalent of a small city in logistics across the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Milley said \u201cone third of our navy\u2014100 ships\u2014are on patrol now, at sea across the globe, protecting freedom of navigation\u201d with much of that emphasis on the fabled 7th Fleet in the Indo-Pacific.<\/p>\n<p>Of 4,680 commands, \u201c60 percent of active duty force is at highest rate of readiness\u201d in decades, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Calvert said when recently touring Taiwan as part of a congressional delegation, \u201cevery single member\u201d of Taiwan\u2019s military leadership commented on \u201cthe extremely slow pace\u201d of U.S. defense\u00a0 procurement.<\/p>\n<p>The generals said Congress created and orchestrates the procurement process, something the Pentagon has complained about since there was a Pentagon, but the budget invests $30 billion in upfront infrastructure for bases and programs that will speed ensuing procurement in years to come.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a budget aimed squarely at keeping America secure in the world of the 21st century,\u201d Austin said, noting the $863 billion defense budget includes $842 billion for the Pentagon\u2014the remainder is for the Department of Energy to build nuclear weapons\u2014\u201cwhich is a 3.2-percent increase over Fiscal Year 23 and 13.4 percent higher than Fiscal Year 22.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A 3.2 percent increase with 6 percent inflation \u201cis essentially a cut,\u201d Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) said the proposed defense budget focuses on what needs focus right here and now\u2014China.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we don\u2019t prioritize security today, I fear we risk a much costlier fight with China down the road, whether that is in 2025, or 20 years, or 30 years down the road,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Milley said despite all its saber-rattling, PRC military forces are not ready to engage with the United States and its allies now, but is \u201crapidly closing the gap.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The budget\u2019s focus on the PRC and the Indo-Pacific region has CCP leaders rattled and realizing any conflict with the US and its allies anytime soon would be a winless disaster for all, but especially them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWar with China is neither inevitable or imminent,\u201d he said, and the FY24 budget request will help ensure it remains that way.<\/p>\n<p>If the PRC isn\u2019t convinced, Milley said, it can learn the hard way.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis military is ready. We are prepared to fight tonight and prepared to fight in the future,\u201d he said. \u201cThis budget prevents war and prepares us to fight it if we have to.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>China\u2019s military planners publicly proclaim the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will be the world\u2019s dominant military power by 2049, and the first step in that ascension is controlling the South China Sea to incorporate Taiwan, by force if necessary, into the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) by 2027. None of this is going to happen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":509,"featured_media":1904054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[4501,6003,17079,15298,16039,5066,5308,9029],"class_list":["post-1904053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times","tag-china","tag-closing","tag-gap","tag-generals","tag-rapidly","tag-ready","tag-testify","tag-us"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1904053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/509"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1904053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1904053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1904054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1904053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1904053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1904053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}