China has been ramping up its military actions around Taiwan in what one top commander warned on Thursday are not just drills, but "rehearsals."
"China's unprecedented aggression and military modernization poses a serious threat to the homeland, our allies and our partners," Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said during a hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. "With military pressure against Taiwan increasing by 300%, China's increasingly aggressive actions near Taiwan are not just exercises, they are rehearsals."
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Beijing has long looked to assert its dominance over Taiwan as it aims to "reunify" the island with mainland China in a move the West and Taipei have warned is against Taiwan's wishes and would disturb the region's status quo.
Taiwan identifies as a sovereign nation. However, it is officially recognized by China, the United Nations and the U.S. as part of the "One China" policy - though the U.S. has increasingly warned Beijing against disrupting regional stability by forcibly "reunifying" the island with the mainland.
"While the [People's Liberation Army] PLA attempts to intimidate the people of Taiwan and demonstrate coercive capabilities, these actions are backfiring, drawing increased global attention and accelerating Taiwan's own defense preparations," Paparo said.
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But it is not only China's military posture toward Taiwan that concerns top military commanders.
"China's outproducing the United States in air missile, maritime and space capability and accelerating these," Paparo said. "I remain confident in our deterrence posture, but the trajectory must change."
The Indo-Pacific commander warned that China is outstripping the U.S. in the production of fighters at a rate of 1.2 to 1, and warned that the U.S. is falling behind when it comes to shipbuilding, as well as some missile and space-based capabilities.
"They built combatants at the rate of 6 to 1.8 to the United States," Paparo told the lawmakers, in reference to China's investment in producing ships, aircraft and weaponry.
"We've got to get at the problems of why we don't have enough [of a] combat logistics force - and that's shipbuilding. Why we don't have enough labor," Paparo said. "And those are looking hard at pay and incentives in order to recruit and retain those people."
