The War Department has informed Congress in its latest annual report on China that it intends to combat the adversary in the Indo-Pacific “through strength, not confrontation.”
The unclassified report brings the Pentagon’s handling of Beijing in line with President Donald Trump’s broader national security strategy to focus on his “America First” doctrine.
“We do not seek to strangle, dominate, or humiliate China,” the report reads. “Rather, as laid out in President Trump’s National Security Strategy, we seek only to deny the ability of any country in the Indo-Pacific to dominate us or our allies. That means being so strong that aggression is not even considered, and that peace is therefore preferred and preserved.”
“The Department of War,” it continues, “will therefore prioritize bolstering deterrence in the Indo-Pacific through strength, not confrontation.”
Last year’s report, issued under former President Joe Biden, called China a “pacing challenge” for the United States, echoing a conclusion also reached during Trump’s first term. This year, the report says China is continuing “its massive nuclear expansion” but that it was “logical” for its military might to grow in strength with its economy.
The Pentagon also warned that China was gearing up to “fight and win a war on Taiwan by the end of 2027.”
NSS EMPHASIZES TRUMP’S ‘AMERICA FIRST’ PRIORITIZATION OF US’S BACKYARD
Trump’s new national security strategy, released earlier this month, adjusts the military’s priorities to “address urgent threats” closer to home, such as mass migration, drug cartels, and closer foreign adversarial influences than those from a country that sits thousands of miles away. In his first year back in office, Trump has especially focused on combating illegal immigration and a controversial military campaign against alleged drug smugglers heading for the U.S. from Venezuela and other countries with heavy cartel presence such as Colombia and Mexico.
The strategy states the administration wants to “ensure that the Western Hemisphere remains reasonably stable and well-governed enough to prevent and discourage mass migration to the United States” and for foreign governments to “cooperate with us against narco-terrorists, cartels, and other transnational criminal organizations.”
