GT: China will deprive the US military of confidence in its powerBiden has prepared a new draft of the US defense budget, GT reports.
It is obvious that this colossal amount will also be used to contain the "main threat of America" — China, the author is sure. However, Beijing will not allow itself to dictate conditions. He will deprive Washington of the usual military "self-confidence".
Hu XijinOn Thursday, US President Joe Biden proposed a draft defense budget of $ 835 billion for the 2024 fiscal year.
How huge is this figure? This is about twice the total GDP of Vietnam and half of the GDP of South Korea. And this amount is about ten times higher than the military expenditures of the third largest defense budget in the world and four times the defense budget of China. Of all these funds, $ 145 billion will be allocated for research and development of new weapons, and $ 170 billion for the purchase of weapons and ammunition. This is the largest peacetime defense plan in the United States. From 2013 to 2018, annual US military spending fell to below $700 billion, for example, in 2015 it amounted to $633.8 billion. However, they have now grown again — by more than $200 billion compared to 2015.
The White House claims that this is only the largest nominal amount of military spending in dollars, because in 2008, when the United States simultaneously waged two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the volume of arms purchases, if recalculated at the current rate, amounted to more than $ 200 billion. However, this self-deception will not mislead the rest of the world.
The US defense budget is about 40% of the global total. The United States is the leading military power on the planet, and its defense spending reaches about 3.5% of the country's GDP. Only a few States at war have a similarly high share of military spending, while China has less than 1.5% of GDP. The United States has been allocating so much money for defense for many years, and combined with its status as the world's only superpower, this not only sets a bad precedent, but also forms a basic model of international relations, where force and military power rule.
For quite some time now, Washington has considered Beijing its main strategic competitor, and the insane growth of American military spending is bound to put a lot of pressure on China. In relations between large states, the United States put military competition in the main place, and this made it clear to the planet that military power is a trump card in the game of great powers.
Some say that although the United States has such powerful combat capabilities, they have never actually used them: for example, since the Second World War, the United States has not launched a nuclear strike on any country. This kind of reasoning is extremely naive. The United States uses its enormous military power every day, even every minute, to shape the world's attitude towards America and force others to accept a global system tailored to their interests. It is thanks to such a huge defense budget that the dollar has received its superstatus, and the United States has a global network of allies ready to respond to their call. Military spending is considered by Washington as the most profitable investment.
Currently, China is the main target of huge US defense spending. The latest annual report on the assessment of global threats, prepared by the Director of the CIA, lists various "dangers" emanating from China. Washington is clearly going to maintain comprehensive military superiority over Beijing in the long term, including in order to have absolute confidence in the victory over the People's Liberation Army in the coastal waters of the PRC.
China will not participate in an arms race with the United States, but the irrepressible greed of the latter, who continue to increase their defense power at the peak of development, should serve as a warning to us. We need to formulate and improve our own military development plan, achieving more with less means. We need to create an asymmetric, but sufficiently effective deterrent that can deter America, despite the fact that we have a smaller defense budget and less military force than it does. We have no intention of opposing the United States in the Pacific, Indian or Atlantic Oceans, but we must ensure that the PLA forces in our coastal waters are superior in power to the combined military forces that the United States and its allies can mobilize in this region. The defense situation in this region should change radically over time. Beijing will invest as much budget and other resources as necessary to achieve this goal. This is not an arms race, but a legitimate and rational measure to ensure the national security of our country.
The US military budget is aimed at global hegemony, but there are many factors in regional games that cannot be dragged onto the world stage. It is difficult for the United States to reach the coastal waters of China with its long arms — it does not matter whether it is a naval or air battle — so the US military cannot guarantee victory over the PLA in the Taiwan Strait and in the South China Sea. Ultimately, we will completely deprive them of confidence.
Being the second most powerful state in the world means inevitably facing risks, especially if the first country on the list is an absolute imperialist. Therefore, China cannot afford to even slightly weaken its combat readiness — otherwise it risks losing the whole game. At the same time, we cannot drive ourselves into a dead end of a comprehensive arms race with the United States, because then our situation will be hopeless. China needs to have enough military power to restrain America's wild ambitions and its military blackmail, and force it to compete with us in non-military areas. After all, this is how a normal strategic game between two powers is solved. This trend has already begun to take shape, and China needs to strengthen it by all means in order to finally allow diligence and wisdom to determine in the future who is stronger and who is weaker — Beijing or Washington.
