{"id":56583,"date":"2021-04-09T17:48:11","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T17:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/04\/09\/beijing-has-pierced-washingtons-deterrence-bubble-how-can-the-us-recover\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:12:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:12:58","slug":"beijing-has-pierced-washingtons-deterrence-bubble-how-can-the-us-recover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/commentary\/2021\/04\/09\/beijing-has-pierced-washingtons-deterrence-bubble-how-can-the-us-recover\/","title":{"rendered":"Beijing has pierced Washington\u2019s deterrence bubble. How can the US recover?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The fishing vessels arrived one and two at a time, dropping anchor off the disputed Whitsun Reef<\/a> near the Philippines. As the Chinese-flagged fleet grew larger, the vessels tethered themselves together, hunkering down for a gray zone standoff that has captured policymaker interest throughout the Pacific region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And with that, Beijing burst Washington\u2019s deterrence bubble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In congressional testimony last month, officials advocated<\/a> for new, multibillion-dollar investments in long-range strike capabilities and a sophisticated missile system in Guam. These new platforms, it was argued, are essential to reassuring our regional allies and deterring China<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet, the Whitsun spectacle lays bare that Washington\u2019s continued embrace of a costly, conventional deterrence strategy is alone unlikely to prevent Beijing from achieving many of its security objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s more, China is banking on America\u2019s prioritization of traditional deterrence at the expense of a robust, and potentially more effective, asymmetric strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No doubt, American military supremacy has deterred China from achieving many of its goals. Nevertheless, Beijing has continued its incremental march forward in Hong Kong<\/a>, in the Taiwan Strait and at various overseas ports<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington\u2019s predictable non-response to China\u2019s gray zone activities in places like Whitsun does more than erode U.S. credibility. It increases the likelihood of a military confrontation by permitting China to solidify its gains while neutralizing our diplomatic and economic leverage. Thus, through a process of elimination, military force becomes the only viable option to resolving hardened disputes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building back better deterrence requires an entirely new approach. While the military should prepare for the possibility of a traditional conflict in the future, it must mobilize now for the asymmetric war that we are already fighting. At the center of that mobilization must be a clear-eyed view of America\u2019s desired end states, which, contrary to the White Houses\u2019 rhetoric, cannot be reduced to \u201ccompetition.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., rightly argued that the administration\u2019s recently released 2022 defense budget<\/a> offers the first clues about the White House\u2019s Asia strategy. This includes plans for the newly established $2.2 billion Pacific Deterrence Initiative \u2014 a promising program, albeit one dwarfed by the tens of billions spent on high-end conventional warfare capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\t