US new defence strategy priortizes China as defence ministry of PRC mutes world-class military, sets up police stations overseas
The United States has placed China as the greatest challenge to the country’s security in its new defense strategy report, seemingly relegating Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Defense Department released the 2022 National Defense Strategy on Thursday.
The document points out that China has expanded and modernized its military with a focus on offsetting US military advantages including the Indo-Pacific region.
It read that “the most comprehensive and serious challenge” to US national security is China’s “coercive and increasingly aggressive endeavor to refashion the Indo-Pacific region and the international system to suit its interests and authoritarian preferences.”
The report says the Pentagon prioritizes China’s challenge in the Indo-Pacific region over the Russian challenge in Europe.
It also says the US collaboration with its allies and partners will cement joint capability with the aid of multilateral exercises, technology co-development, greater intelligence sharing and combined planning for shared deterrence challenges.
The Pentagon also released a nuclear posture review, which notes that strategic deterrence remains a top priority mission for the US.
The review recognizes growing concerns about nuclear and missile developments in China, North Korea, and Russia. It says the US is committed to strengthening deterrence in ways that are responsive to changes in the regional security environment.
The report notes that the US will strengthen “extended nuclear deterrence.” It says US allies and partners can be confident that the US is willing and able to deter the range of strategic threats they face whether in crisis or conflict.
The ruling party, the Chinese Communist Party has inked the elevated its armed forces to world-class standards. The amendment was approved at the party’s National Congress earlier this month.
A Chinese defense ministry spokesperson, Tan Kefei on Thursday said the country will accelerate efforts to strengthen its military’s equipment and strategies following the revision of the Chinese Communist Party’s constitution.
President Xi Jinping had told the gathering that more rapidly producing a world-class military is a strategic task for building a modern socialist country.
Tan said Beijing will accelerate the strengthening of the country’s military capabilities and strategies by 2027, the year marking the centenary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army.
The spokesperson also criticized Japan and the United States for interfering in China’s internal affairs regarding Taiwan. He warned that Japan especially should be cautious about its words and actions in the military arena.
And doubling down, China has reportedly set up overseas police stations in some European countries, US and others. Reports say they are being used to apply pressure on Chinese residents.
Dutch media outlets reported on Tuesday that China had established at least two undeclared stations in the Netherlands since 2018.
The reports say the overseas stations offer services such as renewing driver’s licenses, but one of these offices may have also been involved in an attempt to pressure a Chinese man who fled to the Netherlands.
On Thursday, the BBC reported that a similar police station had been opened in the Irish capital of Dublin this year.
The Dutch Foreign Ministry told NHK that officials are investigating the activities of the police centers, and will take appropriate actions.
Ireland’s Foreign Ministry said it had asked the Chinese embassy to close the police station in Dublin. The ministry added that the Chinese side says the office has ceased operations.
A Spain-based NGO, Safeguard Defenders, said that as of September, China had set up 54 police stations in 30 countries, including Japan and the United States.
