Indo-Pacific Command seeks $27.3B to counter China
The greatest danger the United States faces in the Pacific “is the erosion of conventional deterrence” with China, said the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, who submitted to Congress an assessment calling for $27.3 billion in spending from fiscal 2022 to 2027 to counter the rising Asian power.
Without a convincing deterrent capability, “China will be emboldened to take action to supplant the established rules-based international order,” Adm. Phil Davidson said Monday in prepared remarks at the AFCEA TechNet Indo-Pacific Conference.
The United States “must convince Beijing that the costs to achieve its objectives by military force are simply too high,” Davidson said.