Report reveals importance of U.S., Allies, Partners countering PRC aggression in 2024
FORUM Staff
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is increasingly using military coercion in its attempts to overturn the established system of international laws and norms, according to the 2023 China Military Power Report (CMPR) by the United States Department of Defense (DOD). Security analysts expect the trend to continue in 2024.
The DOD, for example, documented more than 300 instances of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducting coercive and risky intercepts of U.S., Ally and Partner aircraft in the Indo-Pacific between 2021 and 2023. The PRC has also increased its aggression toward self-governed Taiwan, which it threatens to annex, by stepping up “provocative and destabilizing actions in and around the Taiwan Strait, including ballistic missile overflights of Taiwan, increased flights into Taiwan’s self-declared air defense identification zone, and large-scale simulated joint blockade and simulated joint firepower strike operations,” according to a CMPR fact sheet.
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In addition to increasingly using the PLA to conduct its statecraft, the PRC continues to expand and modernize its military in all domains of warfare, according to the report, which is mandated each year by the U.S. Congress. In particular, the PRC seeks to develop its nuclear, cyberspace, space and counterspace capabilities, the report found.
The efforts feed into Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping’s goal of achieving “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” by 2049, the PRC’s 100th anniversary, the report said.
The report highlights the U.S. focus on addressing its “top pacing challenge,” the PRC, as described in the 2022 National Security Strategy, DOD officials said.
Another leading concern is the PRC’s expansion of its nuclear delivery platforms and infrastructure, the report said. Through May 2023, the PRC had more than 500 operational nuclear warheads in its arsenal and is projected to have more than 1,000 warheads by 2030. The PRC has at least 300 new intercontinental ballistic missile silos and is likely evaluating the development of conventionally armed intercontinental-range missile systems, which could allow Beijing to reach the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii, according to the report.
The PRC has also sought to deepen ties with Russia, given it “views its ‘no limits’ partnership with Russia as integral to advancing the PRC’s development and emergence as a great power. Nevertheless, Beijing has attempted a discreet approach to providing material support to Russia for its war against Ukraine,” the CMPR fact sheet said.
Meanwhile, the PRC is seeking to expand its network of overseas bases, although its military reach remains significantly smaller than that of the U.S. The PRC continues to use its One Belt, One Road infrastructure scheme to enable its logistics command and has studied establishing facilities in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tajikistan, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates, the report said.
