China Has Wiped Out US Military Advantage in Western Pacific: Commission

Micah McCartney

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Abipartisan commission has issued Washington a stark warning: China poses the most serious threat to U.S. military supremacy since the Cold War and has particularly narrowed the gap in the Western Pacific.

"In many ways, China is outpacing the United States and has largely negated the U.S. military advantage in the Western Pacific through two decades of focused military investment," the bipartisan Commission on the National Defense Strategy wrote in its 2024 report to Congress, released Monday.

America Outpaced

China now boasts the world's largest navy, with over 370 surface ships and submarines, largely concentrated in the Western Pacific, compared with the U.S.'s less than 300 spread across the world. China is also rapidly expanding and modernizing its air force and nuclear arsenal.

China's cyber and space capabilities are "peer or near-peer" level. The country would likely leverage this to disrupt critical infrastructure to hamper the U.S.'s ability to enter a conflict, such as one over Beijing-claimed Taiwan.