appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Kristin Huang

China is expected to shore up its defences to restrict other forces off its coast as the US prepares to expand its military presence in other countries in the region, according to one analyst.
Beijing might also try to pressure some Southeast Asian countries to keep their distance from the United States, two analysts said.
The assessment came after US President Joe Biden, citing China as a “pacing challenge”, requested a US defence budget of US$866 billion for 2024, of which US$842 billion would be earmarked for the Pentagon.
If granted, it would be the biggest peacetime budget of its kind and a 3.2 per cent increase over the previous year.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the new budget would make “major investments” to “sustain” the country’s military advantage over China.
To retain that advantage, the US Indo-Pacific Command is seeking to boost Washington’s deterrence abilities against Beijing, including new weapons, new infrastructure and closer relationships with allies in the region.
Those relationships were highlighted on Monday with Biden’s trip to California to announce the sale of nuclear submarines to Australia, a move China has strongly opposed.
But China is also ramping up military spending, announcing at its annual legislative session earlier this month that spending on defence would rise by 7.6 per cent to 1.55 trillion yuan (US$224.8 billion).
Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the US was trying to improve its long-range “anti-access and area denial abilities in response to China.
“We’re seeing the beginning of a missile or strike competition in the region, with the US recognising that it needs to defend at range, rather than place platforms such as naval vessels or aircraft within a lethal Chinese anti-access and area denial envelope,” Davis said.
Anti-access area denial abilities are meant to restrict military movements within a particular area.


If the funding went through, it would be a significant increase in the US military’s prioritisation of the Asia-Pacific, according to Raymond Kuo, a specialist on East Asian security at the Rand Corporation, a US think tank.
“During the ‘war on terror’, the US focused its forces and basing on the Middle East and Central Asia,” Kuo said.
But now the US was taking a more “proactive posture” in the region, he said, with deals to expand access to bases.
In early February, the US and the Philippines agreed that the US would have access to four new bases in the nation, adding to the five the US could already use to train personnel and position equipment.
“Renewing American access to regional bases – as happened with the Philippines recently – is key to having the necessary forces in-theatre to protect freedom of navigation and maritime trade, as well as assisting partners and allies with their defence,” Kuo said, adding that this would prompt China to be more aggressive.
“China will continue to invest in its own military modernisation, both in conventional capabilities, as well as new domains like cyber and outer space. But it will also lean on its extensive economic relationships with regional countries to reduce their cooperation with the US.”


Davis said China would possibly strengthen its own anti-access area denial abilities designed to threaten American “forward deployed forces”, and extend Beijing’s reach in an anti-access role.
Forward deployed forces are those based in other countries.
Davis said China would also try to mitigate the growing US influence by improving ties with some Southeast Asian countries but that would have its limits.
“Beijing might try to pressure some Southeast Asian states to hold off from ties with the US, but it certainly won’t succeed with either the Philippines, or Vietnam,” he said.


How China is seeking to transform the meaning of great power

Beijing says US, China to pursue military crisis-communication pact

The Chinese roots of ‘gung-ho’ as Trump and Xi look to shared history

Learning from Ukraine war, Chinese military doctors target injuries from drones

China’s military

How will China respond as US pivots to bigger Asia-Pacific presence?

China will possibly  strengthen its own anti-access area denial abilities designed to threaten American “forward deployed forces”, and extend Beijing’s reach in an anti-access role, according to one analyst. Photo: China East Sea Fleet

Pentagon bid to boost funding in Pacific seen as welcome move in region amid China ‘threat’

In the report, the US Indo-Pacific Command said the regional security environment was “becoming more dangerous and defined by an increasing risk of confrontation and crisis”. Photo: AP

The report recommended additional defence systems and equipment in Guam and Hawaii. Photo: AFP/US Navy/Conner D. Blake/Handout

Japan FM visits Solomon Islands, discusses China, security

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, who is on an official visit to the Solomon Islands. File photo: Kyodo

Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands Manasseh Sogavare addressing the UN in September. His nation and China signed a security agreement in April. Photo: AP

Aukus: Australia says US support for Taiwan conflict not part of submarine deal

Australia believes the submarine deal is necessary given Chinese military build-up in the region. Photo: AAP/dpa

Aukus upends Australia’s US-China balancing act as Canberra cements ‘its American course’

US President Joe Biden (centre) speaks alongside Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at a press conference on March 13 announcing details of the Aukus submarine deal. Photo: EPA-EFE

A US Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarine of the type that the US has agreed to sell to Australia under the Aukus pact. Photo: US Navy Handout via Reuters

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong speaks to the media following a meeting with her Chinese counterpart in Beijing in December. Photo: EPA-EFE

Filipino fishermen sail past a Chinese coastguard ship near the Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea in February. Photo: AFP

US agency says China may have developed hypersonic missile that can hit American bases in Pacific

China launched a hypersonic boost-glide missile in 2022. File photo: CCTV

News

China

Military

Both countries are increasing their military budgets, with the United States looking to extend its long-range reach
It is the beginning of missile or strike competition in the region, analyst says


Both countries are increasing their military budgets, with the United States looking to extend its long-range reach.
