China Is Indo-Pacific Pacing Challenge
by Jim Garamone, DOD News
March 17, 2022
The
Indo-Pacific region remains the priority theater for the Defense
Department ... and China remains the pacing challenge for the U.S.
military, Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defense for
Indo-Pacific Affairs, said on March 9, 2022.
The United States is a
Pacific power and works with allies and partners throughout the
Indo-Pacific to uphold the free and open regional order, he told the
House Armed Services Committee. "At the same time, the region faces
mounting security challenges, particularly from the People's
Republic of China, … which has adopted a more coercive and assertive
approach to advancing its authoritarian interests," he said.
China is not the only adversary in the
Pacific. North Korea is developing nuclear weapons and the means to
deliver them. This constitutes a clear threat to the United States
and its allies, Ratner said.
But China is the pacing threat,
and Ratner said the defense budget that is scheduled to be presented
to Congress later this month will reflect that reality. The budget
request will be based on the needs of the new National Defense
Strategy, which will be unveiled soon.
"We are prioritizing capabilities relevant
to the China challenge to enable a joint force that is lethal and
able to strike adversary forces and systems at range," he said.
The force and capabilities must be resilient and able to gain
information advantage and maintain command and control through cyber
and kinetic attacks, Ratner said. The United States military must be
able to field more lethal forces that are agile, fast and able to be
sustained. "Alongside these capabilities, we're building a
combat-credible force posture in the Indo-Pacific, working toward a
more distributed, lethal and resilient forward posture essential to
addressing the full suite of challenges we face in the region," he
said.
At the heart of any strategy for the DOD is
America's greatest asymmetric advantage — the unparalleled network
of allies and partners. "As I look across the region, I see our
defense ties growing at a rapid pace with the U.S.-Japan alliance as
the cornerstone of regional peace," Ratner said. "We are deepening
our defense cooperation with the Japan Self-Defense Forces,
optimizing our alliance force posture, and integrating the alliance
into a broader regional security network of like-minded nations."
The U.S.-South Korean alliance remains "the linchpin of peace
and stability on the Korean peninsula and in the Indo Pacific
region," he said.
He said the U.S.-Australia alliance is
surging forward with considerable momentum. Australia was already
one of America's closest allies, but the ties in all domains of
combat have gotten closer. The announcement of the Australia, United
Kingdom, United States security partnership further cements those
ties, he said.
A U.S. Marine with Company A., 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment (Reinforced), Marine Rotational Force – Darwin and two Australian Defence Force Soldiers run to their objective during Exercise Talisman Sabre 21 at Townsville Field Training Area, Queensland, Australia, July 27, 2021. TS21 supports the U.S. National Defense Strategy by enhancing the ability to protect the homeland defense capabilities and providing an opportunity to train combat-credible forces to address the full range of potential security concerns in the Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Jacob Foster)
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Ratner also said U.S. officials are also
seeing historic progress in a major defense partnership with India.
He said they continue to integrate and operationalize day-to-day
defense cooperation and logistics, enhance information sharing, and
increase bilateral cooperation in emerging domains such as space and
cyberspace.
DOD is also working with the nations of Southeast
Asia to strengthen capabilities and increase interoperability,
Ratner said. These include Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia
and Timor Leste.
Ratner also addressed China's action
regarding Taiwan. "Consistent with our commitment to our ‘One China'
policy, the Taiwan Relations Act, the three joint communiqués, and
the six assurances, we're focused on maintaining peace and stability
in the Taiwan Strait," he said.
He noted that if China is
DOD's pacing challenge, then "Taiwan is the pacing scenario."
"We aim to deter and deny PRC [China's] aggression through a
combination of Taiwan's own defenses, its partnership with the
United States, and growing support from like-minded democracies," he
said.
U.S. Department
of Defense
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