China’s State Council this week issued its first National Defense White Paper since 2012. U.S. officials and security experts say the white paper tries to justify China’s military expansion and coercion—ambitions that are unacceptable to the U.S.
In its new defense white paper, China accuses the United States of provoking and intensifying competition among major nations and undermining global stability. It also says China’s distinctive feature is “Never seeking hegemony, expansion or spheres of influence.”
“Anybody who pays attention to China’s actions and behavior understands China is lying, and trying to create enemies where there are no enemies,” Richard Fisher, Senior Fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center said. “The American strategies have been forced on Washington due to China’s aggression and global designs.”
Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) House Foreign Affairs Committee said: “We’re looking to make the Chinese people stronger and empower. China, on the other hand, is going the opposite direction; calls us the provocateurs. Yet they’re building five new naval carriers—aircraft carriers. And there’s no need for that.”
Retired Admiral Scott Swift said that many U.S. allies in the region are worried about the opacity of the Chinese military’s objectives; if the increased military power is for using force and coercion, it will cause regional instability. “It’s the actions that a military takes, there’s an obligation to explain those actions,” the Former Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet said. “That’s what we mean by transparency. If you don’t have that, then increasing the size of the military is going to be viewed first as destabilizing.”
In the new defense white paper, China criticized the Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan for stubbornly sticking to “Taiwan independence” and “borrowing the strength of foreign influence.” The paper reiterated the regime’s stance that it makes no promise to renounce the use of force against Taiwan.
“The most people on Taiwan want to remain free,” said Fisher. “They also want to live in peace with China, but China doesn’t want a free Taiwan. It doesn’t want peace on the Taiwan Strait. It wants to conquer Taiwan, so it needs justification and emergencies to justify its invasion.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper was sworn in on July 23. He has paid close attention to China’s military development for two decades, and supports adopting a tougher stance toward Beijing. “China has for many years now had an aggressive modernization program underway, not just with its with its technology, but also with personnel and organizations,” he said. “So I think they’re building a very capable military, and we need to watch that.”
