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Pentagon: China remains the main strategic threat to America

2022-10-28 17:52:17Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Pentagon: China remains the main strategic threat to America
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin

China remains the main challenge to the national security interests of the United States, while Russia remains an "acute" threat with its brutal war in Ukraine, according to the Pentagon's recently released National Defense Strategy document.

"The People's Republic of China is the only competitor in the world with the intent to change the international order and, increasingly, the power to do so," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters Thursday at the Pentagon.

A senior defense official, speaking to reporters about the new defense strategy on condition of anonymity, said China continues to gain more "the ability to systematically challenge the United States in all areas, military, economic, technological and diplomatic".

The “China challenge,” according to Secretary Austin, has led to increased defense capabilities in all military domains, especially space and cyberspace, to make clear to any potential adversary that “the cost of aggression against the United States or to our allies and partners, far outweighs any imaginable benefit that an attack could bring."

The strategy report comes at a time when China and Russia have escalated aggression against their neighbors. China has repeatedly threatened to take control of Taiwan, even by force if necessary, and Russia attacked Ukraine in February and continues to attack multiple Ukrainian cities with Iranian-made missiles and drones.

Another senior defense official, also speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity Thursday, said nuclear weapons will continue to be the "cornerstone" of the United States' military deterrence capability.

According to the official, the new defense strategy reflects the fact that the United States is now facing two major nuclear-armed competitors, Russia and China.

"Other non-nuclear capabilities have the potential to enhance but cannot replace the deterrent capability of nuclear weapons in some circumstances," the official said.

Other major threats

Russia's aggression against Ukraine poses "an immediate and acute threat," Mr. Austin said, prompting the United States to increase its military presence in Europe from about 80,000 troops to more than 100,000.

Compared to China, Secretary Austin told reporters that "Russia cannot systematically challenge the United States in the long term."

The senior official added that "Russia is absolutely deterred from launching an attack on NATO" as the United States has made it clear that it will defend every inch of NATO territory.

But the official raised concerns that Russia's failures on the battlefield in Ukraine could lead it to rely more on its nuclear arsenal in the future.

Other threats mentioned in the 2022 National Defense Strategy include North Korea, Iran and global violent extremists.

Iran remains a destabilizing factor in the Middle East and the largest state sponsor of terrorism, while continuing to develop nuclear capabilities that would enable Tehran to produce a nuclear weapon.

However, according to the report, "Iran does not currently possess a nuclear weapon" and the United States "currently believes that it is not attempting to produce one."

North Korea also continues to increase its nuclear and missile capabilities to threaten US forces and US allies in the region.

The 2022 strategy is largely a continuation of the one released in 2018 under Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, which made a fundamental shift from emphasis on operations primarily against extremists to a possible war with a close competitor for military capabilities.

Last year, the United States ended the 20-year war in Afghanistan. The United States still has a small number of troops in Somalia, Iraq and Syria, but has largely withdrawn from major counterterrorism operations.

The new strategy calls for more advances in technology from hypersonic weapons to artificial intelligence. Secretary Austin added that the 2023 budget includes more than $130 billion for weapons research and development, the largest such research budget in the history of the Department of Defense. (VOA)


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