President Joe Biden attends the 59th Presidential Inauguration.
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon is kicking off a fourth-month review of its China strategy as the Biden administration charts its course on what is the biggest geopolitical issue facing Washington.
The review will be headed by a task force of 15 military and civilian officials across the DoD and intel communities, informing what promises to be a larger rethink across the entire administration on its posture in meeting Chinese diplomatic, economic, and military pressure across the globe.
The review doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his deputy, Kathleen Hicks, told senators during their confirmation hearings last month that China is the undisputed pacing threat for the United States, echoing Trump-era defense officials and diplomats. They also promised major strategic reviews.
President Joe Biden was briefed on the China effort at the Pentagon this afternoon, telling reporters afterward that the effort will “chart a strong path forward on China-related matters, will require a whole government effort, bipartisan cooperation from Congress, and strong alliances and partnerships. That’s how we’ll meet the China challenge and ensure the American people win the competition in the future.”
Austin clearly suggested to lawmakers that a relook was coming during his confirmation hearing, declaring the US will have to do more to counter China’s “aggressive and coercive actions,” adding that Beijing “presents an increasingly urgent challenge to our vital interests in the Indo-Pacific region and around the world.”
He also suggested he would take a fresh look at US basing and force posture in the Pacific region, calling for Washington to build “a more resilient and distributed force posture in the Indo-Pacific in response to China’s counter-intervention capabilities, supported by new operational concepts.”
The China review comes on top of a larger force posture reassessment the Pentagon is undertaking; it has already placed a halt on the Trump administration’s order to withdraw 12,000 US troops from Germany, a proposal that was deeply unpopular inside the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill, and among NATO allies.
The halt was announced earlier this month by Gen. Tod Wolters, European Command chief, who said a “freeze” on the plan had been ordered by the Pentagon until the new team could complete its own review.
Enterprise-wide training: the Army’s $3.5B program for multi-service combat readiness
The competition for Warfighter Training and Readiness Solutions will bring together training networks, combat training centers and live ranges across the DoD enterprise.
Iran says it shot down Israel’s attack. Here’s what air defense systems it might have used.
Tehran has been increasingly public about its air defense capabilities, including showing off models of systems at a recent international defense expo.
