Washington is not pursuing a forceful strategy towards China but Beijing’s “historic” military build-up is making the US increasingly vulnerable, the Pentagon said in its annual report to Congress on military developments related to China.
“We do not seek to strangle, dominate, or humiliate China … We seek only to deny the ability of any country in the Indo-Pacific to dominate us or our allies,” the 100-page report released on Tuesday said.
“China’s historic military build-up has made the US homeland increasingly vulnerable” it added, citing Beijing’s growing arsenal of nuclear, maritime and conventional long-range strike, cyber and space capabilities “able to directly threaten Americans’ security”.
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The readout, which dropped late in the day during a holiday week, argued that America’s goal is to be so strong that aggression by its adversaries is not even considered, “and that peace is therefore preferred and preserved”.
In keeping with an oft-repeated theme by the administration of US President Donald Trump, the report argued that US-China military relations had rarely been in better shape than under Washington’s current leadership.
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“Under President Trump’s leadership, relations between the United States and China are stronger than they have been in many years,” the report said, adding that the Pentagon would “support efforts” to build on that momentum with the People’s Liberation Army.