Washington is likely to bolster its military forces in the Indo-Pacific next year to create a “more lethal” and “more resilient” deterrence to any Chinese plans to take control of Taiwan militarily, according to a senior U.S. Department of Defense official.
Speaking at an event hosted by the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Thursday, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner said he believed 2023 was “likely to stand as the most transformative year in U.S. force posture in the [Indo-Pacific] region in a generation.”
“We’re going to be making good on a strategic commitment … that’s going to be as I said, more lethal, more mobile, more resilient, and exactly reinforcing that kind of deterrence that we’re talking about, that make some of these rapid, low-cost invasions nearly impossible,” Ratner said.
Ratner added that there was “a consensus” within the Pentagon about the urgency of maintaining and reinforcing deterrence. “Our goal is to ensure that that is never easy for them to do rapidly or cost free,” referring to Beijing’s potential action to seize Taiwan by force.
Commenting on debates in Washington about whether China will try to take control of Taiwan militarily by 2027, Michael Chase, deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, said the 2027 marker — as with 2035 and 2049 — was about milestones for the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) capability building, rather than its intent.
“The urgency question — that Xi Jinping is ready to push a button on 2027 and say ‘go’ no matter what — our answer to that is no,” Ratner said.
The U.S. is “on the path” to reinforce and update its concepts and posture while developing capabilities in a way that “makes aggression against Taiwan too costly for leaders in Beijing,” Ratner said.
Meanwhile, Chase said the U.S. House of Representatives’ approval of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which contains clauses to provide military aid to Taiwan, also sent a “clear message” to Beijing.
“I think that sends a pretty clear message to Beijing … the more that they engage in intimidating and coercive behavior, the greater the sort of sense of urgency that everyone has about trying to make sure we’re doing everything possible to help Taiwan,” Chase said.
“There’s strong bipartisan support for Taiwan across administrations that we fully expect will continue,” Chase added.
Ratner shared similar views, saying the NDAA, in particular the Taiwan provisions, was a “really important bipartisan symbol” and that the Department of Defense would “really love to see” the appropriations to match that authorization.
Ratner also pointed out that the Chinese military had been recently engaging in “reckless” and “dangerous” intercepts of U.S. and allied aircraft operating in international airspace.
The PLA aircraft have come within tens of feet of U.S. and allied aircraft, released flares and chaff, and conducted other provocative acts, Ratner said, adding that they tempted “a crisis that could have geopolitical and geoeconomic implications.”
“This is really dangerous behavior that I would liken to driving with road rage in a school zone,” he added.
However, the two officials said Beijing had been “reluctant” to engage in discussions with Washington about crisis management and risk reduction.
According to Chase, the Pentagon continues to engage with the PLA to keep the channels of communication open and make sure that intensifying competition between the U.S. and China would not veer into confrontation or conflict.
Beijing, however, has been reluctant to talk about issues related to risk reduction and has even canceled some of the dialogues and mechanisms meant to allow both sides to ensure that they have shared expectations about safe and professional encounters between their air and maritime forces, Chase said.
The Indo-Pacific region is looking to Washington and Beijing to manage competition more responsibly, Rather said, adding that he did not see willingness from Beijing to do so.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel