He confirmed that the PRC is the "number one challenge" for the United States
Washington. November 9th. INTERFAX - The United States is making efforts to overcome the obstacles that China is creating in the way of the United States' desire to expand its presence in the Indo-Pacific region, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at a briefing.
"Obviously, they (China - IF) have invested a lot of money, especially in air and sea capabilities, which are largely designed to try to prevent the United States from gaining access to certain areas in the Indo-Pacific region," he said.
The official said: "We are focused on solving this difficult task and ensuring that we maintain the necessary capabilities and the right operational concepts to fulfill our security obligations in this part of the world."
He stressed that Washington stands for a free and open Indo-Pacific region and intends to "continue to work towards achieving this goal through our network of alliances and partnerships."
"You have heard the Secretary of State say this many times, he believes that the PRC is our number one challenge (...). We are focused on developing capabilities, operational concepts, ensuring that we have the resources and the right strategy so that we can deal with the PRC as the number one challenge," Kirby said.
