American media: China has the strongest army in the Indo-Pacific

According to Isna, “Rail Clear Defense” media has explained in an article that since the end of World War II, the United States has been the most powerful military force present in the Indo-Pacific region (the region between the Indian and Pacific Oceans); But China’s rapid military growth has changed the balance of power in the region.

According to the American media, the military power of China and the United States are often compared on a global scale, and the US military, which has prepared itself for intervention around the world, has a clear superiority over the Chinese military on a global scale. But America’s military supremacy in Asia has gradually been challenged and China has increasingly shown its ability to increase modern military capabilities and control over the region.

“These changes should raise alarm bells in Washington,” the report said. In its latest annual report to the US Congress on the Chinese military, the Pentagon has announced that the People’s Liberation Army of China is developing its capabilities to strengthen its military power to fight against the US and defeat it. The chairman of the China Committee in the US House of Representatives has said that China has enough weapons to bypass our air and missile defenses that protect US bases in the Pacific Ocean.

Beijing’s official financial reports show that China’s military budget in 2022 was equivalent to 229 billion dollars, but new research has shown that the actual amount of the country’s military spending this year was about 711 billion dollars; A figure that is almost equal to the US defense budget in the same year.

Although the equality of US and Chinese military budgets in 2022 could be very worrying for Washington, the real advantage of Beijing in the military field will be revealed only when the country’s neighbors in Asia are examined.

With a defense budget of $711 billion, Beijing has spent five times the combined defense budget of the United States’ largest allies and three times that of other significant spending countries. Chinese President Xi Jinping announced in 2017 that he wants to transform the country’s army into a “world-class army” by the end of 2049, and according to the American media, Beijing’s investments have been effective in this direction.

According to Rail Clear Defense, China has the world’s largest land, naval and missile forces and is trying to triple its nuclear weapons stockpile by 2030 while creating an advanced arsenal of hypersonic missiles.

Meanwhile, according to the American media, at the same time as the rapid increase of China’s military capacity, the American army is rapidly shrinking in all sectors. US President Joe Biden plans to reduce the number of active duty soldiers to 442,000, which is the lowest since 1940. The US Navy will be equipped with only 294 ships by 2030, while the number of Chinese warships will reach 425 this year.

On the other hand, the rate of production of new warplanes in the United States is faster than the rate of disposal of old ones, and the country’s air force is also shrinking. Meanwhile, China is rapidly updating its air force fleet with domestically produced aircraft. Stealth fighters will be equipped.

In addition, America has seen itself in the leadership position of the world and in addition to the Indo-Pacific region, it is also involved in other regions such as West Asia and the war in Ukraine. While the United States has to divide its military power among its allies around the world and dedicate only a part of it to the Pacific, China has the possibility to concentrate all its forces in this region and have more power.

Beijing is also well aware of this advantage, and this can be seen in its increasingly bold behavior with US allies such as the Philippines, Japan, and Australia. Although Washington has moved its tools to Asia to counter China’s actions, this process has been slow and insufficient.

However, the White House has not addressed this issue in its proposed budget for 2025. In this budget document, the increase in military spending is limited to one percent, and the military forces are forced to make difficult decisions and limit the increase in military capabilities.

At the end of the American media report, pointing out that the US Congress has made efforts to increase the military budget, it is stated: “If Washington wants to fill the deep gap between the military strategy and the resources of the United States, it must provide more resources than the conventional deterrent power of the United States in Asia will increase.”

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