{"id":38355,"date":"2022-06-17T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/06\/17\/what-it-looks-like-when-competing-with-china-comes-last\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:02:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:02:59","slug":"what-it-looks-like-when-competing-with-china-comes-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/commentary\/2022\/06\/17\/what-it-looks-like-when-competing-with-china-comes-last\/","title":{"rendered":"What it looks like when competing with China comes last"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin attempted to lay out the Biden administration\u2019s stance toward Taiwan in his recent speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue<\/a> in Singapore, he reaffirmed the president\u2019s commitment to the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. Austin also stated that \u201cwe do not seek a new Cold War, an Asian NATO<\/a>.\u201d But in the same speech, Austin demonstrated the Biden administration\u2019s failed hope of having it both ways in the Indo-Pacific region. Austin also used Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine as an example of the \u201cconsequences<\/a>\u201d that Beijing would suffer in the wake of any attempt to violently subjugate Taiwan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is past time for the Biden administration to answer fundamental questions about how it intends to support Taiwan and secure a free and open Indo-Pacific for generations to come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the Biden team\u2019s plans for maintaining stability in the Indo-Pacific are inconsistent. The Biden administration does not want to build an \u201cAsian NATO\u201d or an anti-hegemonic coalition<\/a>, but neither does the administration intend to rapidly arm Taiwan<\/a>, allowing it to serve as its own credible threat<\/a> against Chinese aggression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the U.S. will not harden Taiwan or work more closely with allies in the Indo-Pacific, while still seeking to prevent Beijing from subjugating Taiwan, then more U.S. forces should be committed to the Indo-Pacific. The military resources of the United States are not limitless, however, but the Biden administration has failed to make disciplined choices about where to prioritize the commitment of forces and attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a single metric<\/a>, the number of active duty military personnel assigned to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command were barely higher in 2021 than they were in 2012. By many metrics, the United States is only beginning to run, while China has been sprinting for years. The size of China\u2019s economy surpasses our own<\/a>, and it fuels China\u2019s military modernization<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China has the world\u2019s largest naval<\/a> and standing ground forces<\/a>, as well as the largest air forces<\/a> in the Indo-Pacific region. China is beating the U.S. on hypersonic weapons<\/a>; these weapons are capable of evading current missile defenses and are fueled by stolen U.S. technology<\/a>. China is also fielding anti-ship missiles<\/a> to hold U.S. ships at risk, and it pledges<\/a> to become the world leader in artificial intelligence technology by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The implications of China\u2019s widening military advantages are dire. While China\u2019s sustained military buildup<\/a> unquestionably supports its ambitions to reunify with Taiwan \u2014 and gain a chokehold over the all-important semiconductor industry<\/a> \u2014 we should not naively assume that Beijing\u2019s aims for regional hegemony stop with the island. Manuals and writing from the People\u2019s Liberation Army explain<\/a> that \u201cas soon as Taiwan is reunified with Mainland China, Japan\u2019s maritime lines of communication will fall completely within the striking ranges<\/a> of China\u2019s fighters and bombers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China consistently racks up diplomatic victories as well. Earlier this year, China inked a new security pact with the Solomon Islands, giving China the right to access naval and port facilities in the Solomons \u2014 spread across shipping lanes connecting the United States to Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\t