Biden's budget priorities and the China threat

The CCP regime is massively expanding its military capabilities both in size and technological sophistication to the point where it will soon be, if it is not already, a peer military competitor to the United States in the Asia-Pacific region, and set to overtake it in the years to come. Is this situation adequately reflected in the Biden administration's budgetary priorities? (Chris Farrell, Gatestone Institute, 12 January 2022)

The Chinese buildup has been extraordinary. Already, the PLA navy has more warships than the US. The entire civil merchant fleet, including fishing vessels, is now being built to military specifications enabling there use in amphibious operations such as invading Taiwan. The regime recently tested a hypersonic missile, a technology that is very difficult for missile defence systems to defeat.

Yet the Biden administration has frozen its military budget, indeed reduced when inflation is factored in, despite vast increases in other areas of expenditure. The author of this piece contends the administration is suffering from ideologically induced myopia about the seriousness of this threat, with potentially disastrous consequences.

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Which is more urgent?: Does the US need a nearly $5 trillion budget for an immediate deterrence to China's biowarfare and military buildup, or for climate change and green programs? And are those climate change and green programs largely paybacks to campaign donors and to China?

The Communist Chinese are redrawing the maps of the world, from the South China Sea to the Panama Canal to Equatorial Guinea. They are advancing technologically and practically through a coordinated military, scientific and economic strategy that seeks to outstrip the United States completely within a decade.

The Biden administration has its own priorities and vision, domestically and with respect to our defense posture. A 2022 budget that may reach nearly $5 trillion dollars has many social programs but an unexceptional defense budget -- and it lacks a coherent strategy or focus for dealing with the persistent and growing challenges from China.

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