{"id":68311,"date":"2024-04-03T19:46:59","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T19:46:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2024\/04\/03\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:57:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:57:37","slug":"pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2024\/04\/03\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Pacific problems: Why the US disagrees on the cost of deterring China"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 2020, Mac Thornberry wanted to answer two questions: How much is the U.S. spending to prevent a war with China, and is it enough?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These were difficult, even for the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee. And he wasn\u2019t the only one asking. Thornberry often traveled to Asia, where U.S. allies had the same questions. Thornberry didn\u2019t know what to tell them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat do we have to offer?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For two years, Congress had asked the Pentagon for a report on how much extra money it needed for the Pacific region, but never received one. So Congress demanded one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe attitude was, tell us what you need and we\u2019ll try to help,\u201d Thornberry said during a recent interview. \u201cWell, if they\u2019re not going to tell us, then we\u2019re going to tell them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The defense policy bill for fiscal 2021 \u2014 named for Thornberry, who was retiring \u2014 created the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, a new section of the defense budget. PDI had two goals: to push the Pentagon to spend more on the region and to make that money easier to track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four years later, PDI has done only one of those two things, according to experts. It has certainly made China-focused defense spending more transparent, but it hasn\u2019t driven much new spending on the Pacific. In fact, the part of America\u2019s defense budget created to help deter a war with China has no actual money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour priorities are always better reflected in your budget rather than in your rhetoric,\u201d Thornberry said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether those two areas match up may be the most important question in American defense policy right now. The last three administrations have decided China is America\u2019s top threat, and a rising one at that. But it\u2019s less clear how much money it will cost to address it and who gets to decide \u2014 Congress, the Pentagon or military leaders in the Pacific?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that we are somehow dangerously short of funding for the Indo-Pacific, whether it\u2019s PDI or not,\u201d Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee\u2019s defense panel, told Defense News in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going in the right direction, but the question is: Are we going there fast enough?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A second opinion<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

This was the question that led to PDI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, the head of Indo-Pacific Command, Adm. Phil Davidson, was in Washington ahead of his planned retirement to testify before Congress<\/a>. Davidson hadn\u2019t appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee in two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early on, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., presented a set of charts during a short call and response. Wicker read a list projecting the number of Chinese and American weapons in the region by 2025, asking Davidson to check his numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three Chinese aircraft carriers to America\u2019s one. Six Chinese amphibious assault ships to America\u2019s two. Fifty-four Chinese combat ships to America\u2019s six.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The admiral confirmed each one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur conventional deterrent is actually eroding in the region,\u201d Davidson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What concerned him most was not that Beijing had a more powerful military overall; it was a problem of speed and distance. Taiwan \u2014 which the Chinese government considers a rogue province and has threatened to take back by force \u2014 is about 100 miles from the mainland. It\u2019s more than 5,000 miles from Hawaii, the headquarters of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would take three weeks for the U.S. to rush ships to the area from the West Coast, and around 17 days to do so from Alaska, Davidson estimated. If China launched a rapid invasion, it might overwhelm Taiwan before the U.S. had a chance to arrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A soldier launches an American-made TOW 2A missile during a live-fire exercise in Pingtung County, Taiwan, on July 3, 2023. (Sam Yeh\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe important factor here is time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davidson\u2019s answer, and that of many committee members, was to push America\u2019s forces closer to Taiwan \u2014 the military version of a full-court press. But the U.S. didn\u2019t yet have the necessary infrastructure in place. It would need to construct bases, airfields, radars and other buildings along the Pacific islands that arc around Taiwan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this would cost money \u2014 lots of money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PDI was, at first, meant to be the source of that money. To understand why, it\u2019s important to understand how the Pentagon writes its budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The process depends mostly on the military services \u2014 in particular the Army, Navy and Air Force. These services hold about four-fifths of defense spending each year<\/a> and direct where that money goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their incentives are different from those of the seven geographic combatant commands, who carry out America\u2019s military goals around the world. Given their roles, the commands often focus on shorter-term needs. Hence, the services often don\u2019t fund everything the combatant commands want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To lawmakers, the gap seemed especially wide in the Pacific, where China has spent the last two decades upgrading its military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noticing this problem, lawmakers as far back as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in 2017<\/a> wanted to fund Indo-Pacific Command\u2019s goals with a separate account \u2014 something Thornberry also later supported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It didn\u2019t come together until three years later. In May 2020, the chair and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee announced plans for a Pacific Deterrence Initiative<\/a> that would reassure U.S. allies and improve its forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It had five goals: to improve presence, logistics, exercises, infrastructure and the strength of partners in the Pacific. The bill also added a voice to the budgeting process. Indo-Pacific Command would now give Congress an annual second opinion on America\u2019s military needs in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was, however, a structural problem. The lawmakers that created PDI didn\u2019t actually get any money for it. The policy bill named for Thornberry gave the Pentagon about $2 billion in authority for the effort but not permission to spend it. That would\u2019ve required a signoff from the defense appropriations committees, who control the nation\u2019s purse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those committees balk at initiatives like PDI, according to multiple congressional aides, because passing them makes it harder to write a defense budget \u2014 the same reason it\u2019s harder to write a recipe when someone else decides your shopping list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
U.S. Army soldiers and Indonesia airborne troops conduct a joint forcible entry operation at Baturaja Training Area on Aug. 4, 2021. (Staff Sgt. Thomas Calvert\/U.S. Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe hope was for the following year that the appropriations and the budget would match,\u201d said Kimberly Lehn, a former aide on the House Armed Services Committee who helped write the PDI legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That didn\u2019t happen, and by the time Davidson testified before Congress a year later, the initiative had become an accounting drill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think about it like a home improvement fund. If you want an upgrade \u2014 say, a nicer kitchen \u2014 then you have two options: Earn more money or spend less money elsewhere. Instead, PDI was, and still is, implemented in reverse. Each year, the Pentagon builds its budget and then reviews it to see what contributes to deterrence in the Pacific. It then labels that as PDI and highlights the total number in its budget request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt reflects their decisions, it doesn\u2019t drive their decisions,\u201d said Dustin Walker, a former Senate Armed Services Committee aide who helped write the PDI legislation and now works at the drone-maker Anduril.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Free chicken\u2019<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

This was not the model PDI\u2019s authors had in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt started basically as a straight copycat of [the] European Deterrence Initiative,\u201d Walker said, referring to an effort that stemmed from Russia\u2019s 2014 seizure and annexation of Ukraine\u2019s Crimean Peninsula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Obama administration wanted to show commitment to NATO allies rattled by war on the continent. The government did so within months using what it originally dubbed the European Reassurance Initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Russian soldiers patrol outside the naval headquarters in Simferopol on March 19, 2014. Russia’s Constitutional Court unanimously backed President Vladimir Putin’s move to make Crimea part of Russia. (Filippo Monteforte\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

U.S. forces in Europe had declined for decades after the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s \u2014 down to about 62,000 personnel by 2016<\/a>. The smaller size made sense in Europe given there were fewer needs for America\u2019s military muscle. But Russia\u2019s invasion showed how far readiness had fallen, said Tod Wolters, the former head of U.S. European Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the European Deterrence Initiative, the administration wanted to bulk up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe knew that we could not go back to Cold War status, with the number of forces that were going to be in the theater. So the question became: How do we make sure that we can rapidly deploy combat power?\u201d said Al Viana, who works in European Command\u2019s force structure and requirements office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This became the focus of EDI, whose name changed in 2018 when it became clear Russia\u2019s military activities in the region weren\u2019t coming to an end. From 2015 to 2023, the U.S. spent $35 billion on the effort<\/a> to empower allies and ensure its own forces were more agile. The second goal required funding to run more exercises, rotate more troops, improve infrastructure and store important equipment on the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of fiscal 2014<\/a>, European Command had dissolved two heavy combat brigades. However, EDI helped rebuild those forces<\/a> \u2014 deferring cuts to Air Force personnel, supporting a combat aviation brigade and making sure the Army had an armored brigade combat team rotating through the theater. In FY16, the Army\u2019s forces in Europe conducted 26 total exercises per year<\/a>. By 2023, that number was around 50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine<\/a>, the U.S. surged 20,000 extra personnel to Europe.<\/a> That included an armored brigade combat team \u2014 including about 4,000 personnel, 90 tanks and more than 200 other vehicles \u2014 which arrived within a week from notification. Without those stocks already stored in the theater, it would\u2019ve taken between four and six weeks, according to U.S. Army Europe and Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEDI is the place to go and see exactly what we\u2019re doing,\u201d Viana said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two initiatives\u2019 different fates come almost entirely down to money. EDI was paid for through an account called overseas contingency operations, more commonly referred to as OCO (pronounced like \u201ccocoa\u201d). That fund started for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, supplementing the annual Pentagon budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEDI was easy because you weren\u2019t fighting with a service,\u201d a senior defense official told Defense News, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the individual was not permitted to talk to the press. \u201cIt was free chicken.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the start of this decade, Congress had soured on OCO, partly because the Pentagon used it to dodge some budget cuts it faced in the 2010s. Lawmakers called it a slush fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This meant the Pacific Deterrence Initiative didn\u2019t get any extra funding. The European counterpart transitioned away from supplemental money in fiscal 2022<\/a>, and its funding amounts since then have steadily dropped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Amphibious armored vehicles attached to a brigade of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps make their way to a beach during maritime amphibious assault training in China’s Guangdong province on Aug. 17, 2019. (Yan Jialuo and Yao Guanchen\/Chinese Defense Ministry)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The result is that many items Indo-Pacific Command lists in its annual report to Congress \u2014 the things the command says it needs to maintain its strength in the region \u2014 aren\u2019t funded. So the command just resubmits those unfunded priorities on top of additional needs in the next year\u2019s report. Hence, each year\u2019s dollar amount snowballs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Davidson testified before Congress in 2021, his report listed $4.7 billion in requirements. This year, the number was $26.5 billion \u2014 $11 billion of which is unfunded. The bulk of that $11 billion would go to construction costs \u2014 much higher in the Pacific than on the U.S. homeland \u2014 and munitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur demand signal has been consistent,\u201d George Ka\u2019iliwai, the director of requirements and resources at the command, said in a March interview. \u201cIt is what it is because they are our requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pentagon has questioned some of Indo-Pacific Command\u2019s priorities and whether they\u2019re possible to carry out, even with funding. Infrastructure projects, for example, sometimes require negotiations with the host government as well as expensive labor and material costs. Only about a fifth of Indo-Pacific Command\u2019s desired construction projects appear in the FY25 budget request, Ka\u2019iliwai said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since its first report, the command has said the missile defense architecture of Guam \u2014 a U.S. territory crucial to the military\u2019s Pacific posture \u2014 is its top goal. Others, such as infrastructure on Pacific islands or a secure network to communicate with allies, have also appeared each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PDI \u201cdoesn\u2019t come close to scratching the itch,\u201d the defense source said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Trade-offs\u2019<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

There are a few paths forward. One of them would see Congress give Indo-Pacific Command new money each year, like the account McCain sought in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are lawmakers, such as Hawaii\u2019s Case, who support that. But the appropriations committees don\u2019t, and it\u2019s unlikely that will change in the short term, according to multiple congressional aides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another option is in the Pentagon\u2019s control. At the start of the budgeting process, department leaders could reserve money for the command\u2019s priorities and build everything else around it. That would resemble how the deputy defense secretary is funding two signature initiatives: the Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve, which helps accelerate prototyping; and Replicator, an effort to buy drones faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But these programs are loose change compared to what the command says it needs \u2014 hundreds of millions of dollars compared to more than $11 billion in unfunded priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The way PDI works now is important, according to another senior defense official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic. The official argued that a different model for the initiative would make it more difficult for the Defense Department to plan and budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe department has the best ability to find the right trade-offs,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Points of view<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Three years after Davidson testified, his successor stepped into a House hearing room this March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe risk is still high, and it is trending in the wrong direction,\u201d Adm. John Aquilino noted in his opening statement, later adding that the Pacific is the most dangerous he\u2019s ever seen it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sitting next to him, Ely Ratner, the assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, was more hopeful, citing higher spending and the administration\u2019s \u201chistoric momentum\u201d with allies in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The higher spending is easier to see with PDI, which has charted large increases in funding over the last four years. Whether the initiative is working depends on whether you look at the Pacific through the eyes of Ratner or Aquilino. Both agree war isn\u2019t imminent, but they\u2019re split on whether deterrence is getting better or worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it\u2019s eroding, as Davidson argued in 2021, then PDI\u2019s current model may not be enough. If the region is more stable, then the initiative looks better too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest misconception about PDI, according to the second defense official, is that the Pentagon doesn\u2019t take it seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not a gradual slope of increase,\u201d the official said of Pacific funding. \u201cThis is a significant and dramatic increase in investment, and we are more committed than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The PDI request for this year is $9.9 billion \u2014 more than $800 million over last year\u2019s. But up until soon before the Pentagon released its FY25 budget request, it wasn\u2019t, according to the first defense official and a congressional aide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To show the Pentagon was focused on the threat from China, defense leaders tagged more items under the initiative at the last minute to raise its dollar figure, the first defense source and a congressional aide told Defense News. Among the late entries was the drone program Replicator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the recent March hearing, a member of Congress asked Ratner whether the $9.9 billion includes everything the Pentagon needs \u201cfor the PDI to be as effective as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCongresswoman,\u201d Ratner responded, \u201cthe PDI is simply an accounting mechanism.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How much money will it take to deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region, and who gets to decide?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":119078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-post-featured-layout","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","pentagon-congress","flashpoints","china","news"],"primary_category":"your-military"},"7":{"categories":["your-navy","flashpoints","news"],"primary_category":"your-navy"}}},"categories":[45,44,8,160,29,114,11,93,19,30],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3458],"class_list":["post-68311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific","category-budget","category-congress","category-daily-news-roundup","category-digital-show-dailies","category-federal-budget","category-global","category-navy-league","category-pentagon","category-smr"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"7N6USK3GPZC7NE3E73NRYI46GQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/pentagon\/2024\/04\/03\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"featured-layout","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\nPacific problems: Why the US disagrees on the cost of deterring China - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How much money will it take to deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region, and who gets to decide?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pacific problems: Why the US disagrees on the cost of deterring China\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How much money will it take to deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region, and who gets to decide?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2024\/04\/03\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-04-03T19:46:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T00:57:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Noah Robertson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Noah Robertson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"13 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t \"@graph\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/03\\\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\\\/#article\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/03\\\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"author\": {\n\t \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t },\n\t \"headline\": \"Pacific problems: Why the US disagrees on the cost of deterring China\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2024-04-03T19:46:59+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T00:57:37+00:00\",\n\t \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/03\\\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\\\/\"\n\t },\n\t \"wordCount\": 2710,\n\t \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/03\\\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/12_special_main.jpg_435bc1.jpg\",\n\t \"articleSection\": [\n\t \"Asia Pacific\",\n\t \"Budget\",\n\t \"Congress\",\n\t \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t \"Digital Show Dailies\",\n\t \"Federal Budget\",\n\t \"Global\",\n\t \"Navy League\",\n\t \"Pentagon\",\n\t \"Special Multimedia Reports\"\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/03\\\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\\\/#respond\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/03\\\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/03\\\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Pacific problems: Why the US disagrees on the cost of deterring China - Defense News\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\"\n\t },\n\t \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/03\\\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/03\\\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t },\n\t \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/12_special_main.jpg_435bc1.jpg\",\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2024-04-03T19:46:59+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T00:57:37+00:00\",\n\t \"description\": \"How much money will it take to deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region, and who gets to decide?\",\n\t \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/03\\\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t },\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/03\\\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\\\/\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/03\\\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/12_special_main.jpg_435bc1.jpg\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/12_special_main.jpg_435bc1.jpg\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/03\\\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t \"itemListElement\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 1,\n\t \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 2,\n\t \"name\": \"Pentagon\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/pentagon\\\/\",\n\t \"ad_zone\": \"pentagon\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 3,\n\t \"name\": \"Pacific problems: Why the US disagrees on the cost of deterring China\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t \"description\": \"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News\",\n\t \"publisher\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t },\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t \"target\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t },\n\t \"query-input\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t }\n\t }\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\",\n\t \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t \"logo\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t \"caption\": \"Defense News\"\n\t },\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t },\n\t \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pacific problems: Why the US disagrees on the cost of deterring China - Defense News","description":"How much money will it take to deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region, and who gets to decide?","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pacific problems: Why the US disagrees on the cost of deterring China","og_description":"How much money will it take to deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region, and who gets to decide?","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2024\/04\/03\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\/","og_site_name":"Defense News","article_published_time":"2024-04-03T19:46:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T00:57:37+00:00","author":"Noah Robertson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Noah Robertson","Est. reading time":"13 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2024\/04\/03\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2024\/04\/03\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Pacific problems: Why the US disagrees on the cost of deterring China","datePublished":"2024-04-03T19:46:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T00:57:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2024\/04\/03\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\/"},"wordCount":2710,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2024\/04\/03\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_main.jpg_435bc1.jpg","articleSection":["Asia Pacific","Budget","Congress","Daily News Roundup","Digital Show Dailies","Federal Budget","Global","Navy League","Pentagon","Special Multimedia Reports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2024\/04\/03\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2024\/04\/03\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2024\/04\/03\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\/","name":"Pacific problems: Why the US disagrees on the cost of deterring China - Defense News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2024\/04\/03\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2024\/04\/03\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_main.jpg_435bc1.jpg","datePublished":"2024-04-03T19:46:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T00:57:37+00:00","description":"How much money will it take to deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region, and who gets to decide?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2024\/04\/03\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2024\/04\/03\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2024\/04\/03\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_main.jpg_435bc1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_main.jpg_435bc1.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2024\/04\/03\/pacific-problems-why-the-us-disagrees-on-the-cost-of-deterring-china\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pentagon","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/","ad_zone":"pentagon"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Pacific problems: Why the US disagrees on the cost of deterring China"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","name":"Defense News","description":"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization","name":"Defense News","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","caption":"Defense News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Defense News","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/12_special_main.jpg_435bc1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68311"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68318,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68311\/revisions\/68318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68311"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=68311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}