WASHINGTON- The top US admiral in the Asia-Pacific has told Congress thatAmerica must prepare for the possibility of war with China which has showna “crystal clear” intent to dominate the South China Sea.
Harry Harris, who has been nominated to be the next US ambassador toAustralia, told the House Committee on Armed Services on Thursday that theUS would rely on Australia to help uphold the international rules-basedsystem in the Pacific.
“Judging by China’s regional behavior I am concerned that China will nowwork to undermine the rules-based international order, not just in theIndo-Pacific but on a global scale.” he said.
“If the US does not keep pace [Pacific Command] will struggle to competewith the People’s Liberation Army on future battlefields,” he added.
He claimed that China is using “military modernization, influenceoperations and predatory economics to coerce neighboring countries toreorder the Indo-Pacific to their advantage.”
The 61-year-old admiral accused China of increasingly adopting anaggressive posture in the region and said that its military might couldsoon rival American power “across almost every domain.”
He said the United States and its allies should be wary of what he calledChina’s military expansionism in the region.
“China’s intent is crystal clear. We ignore it at our peril,” he said. “I’mconcerned China will now work to undermine the international rules-basedorder.”
“Australia is one of the keys to a rules-based international order,” saidHarris, soon to retire as the head of US Pacific Command in Hawaii. “I lookto my Australian counterparts for their assistance, I admire theirleadership in the battlefield and in the corridors of power in the world.US Pacific Commander Admiral Harry Harris is known for his hawkish views onChina.
“They are a key ally of the United States and they have been with us inevery major conflict since world war one,” he stated.
On Monday, the US Defense Department called on Congress to approve a majorbudget increase in order to counter “threats” from Russia, China, and NorthKorea.
The Pentagon asked for a budget of $686 billion to be allocated to militaryspending in 2019. The requested amount is one of the largest in US history,and is also focused on beefing up the country’s nuclear arsenal. The budgetsees an increase of $80 billion from 2017.
On top of the $686 billion budget request was an additional $30 billionfor agencies including the Department of Energy, which maintainsAmerican nuclear weapons.
Under-Secretary of Defense David L. Norquist told reporters on Monday thatthe budget aims to neutralize threats posed by China and Russia which “wantto shape a world consistent with their own authoritarian intentions.”
“We recognize that, if unaddressed, our eroding US military advantageversus China and Russia could undermine our ability to deter aggression andcoercion in key strategic regions,” he added.
According to the budget document, Beijing is “using predatory economics tointimidate its neighbors while militarizing features in the South ChinaSea.”
China “seeks Indo-Pacific regional hegemony in the near-term,” the documentclaims, but in the long term seeks to “achieve global preeminence” over theUnited States.link>
Last month, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned of “growing threats” fromRussia and China, saying the US military’s advantages over the twocountries have eroded in recent years.
The assessment was part of an unclassified summary of the Pentagon’s newNational Defense Strategy Mattis unveiled on January 19.
“We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China andRussia, nations that seek to create a world consistent with theirauthoritarian models,” he said.
In December 2017, Trump unveiled a new “America First” national securitystrategy that named China and Russia as “competition,” claiming that thetwo countries sought to “challenge American power, influence, andinterests.”