For the U.S. military, which is emphasizing military technology competition with China, the competition with the PLA in the Western Pacific Ocean has been repeatedly constrained by the lack of U.S. military spending, but the U.S. Congress does not seem to be too aggressive with this investment plan. This raises the question: Are Americans stupid? Why are they massively increasing their spending to deal with the Chinese military's mighty countermeasures? To answer this question, we need to know the chairman of the US House Armed Services Committee, Republican Congressman of Texas, Mike Thornberry, who pushed for the creation of the Pacific Deterrence Initiative in 2021. The goal is twofold: to push the Pentagon to invest more military resources in the Indo-Pacific, and to make the money easier to track. Looking back a few years later, the increase in US military spending against China has become more transparent, but there has been no significant increase in the actual amount of money invested.
Now the answer is clear: Americans don't want to spend too much money because they don't know how much money it will cost to achieve this goal, or that it is simply impossible to achieve it. According to U.S. Indo-Pacific Commander Davidson, the balance of military power between China and the United States in the Asia-Pacific region has long been reversed. Under normal circumstances, China has 3 aircraft carriers in the region, while the United States tends to keep only 1. China has 6 amphibious assault ships, the United States has 2, China has 54 shield ships and the United States has only 6. If we consider that the site of a possible military conflict between China and the United States is on the island of Taiwan, the distance from Chinese mainland is 160 kilometers, and the distance from Hawaii at the headquarters of the United States Indo-Pacific Command is 8,000 kilometers. It takes three weeks for the United States to reach the Taiwan Strait from warships and submarines from the West Coast, and 17 days from Alaska. All of this means that the U.S. seems to be a drop in the bucket when it invests more money in the Pacific deterrence program.
In order to pretend to be working hard, the US military has repeatedly asked Congress for money to build bases, airfields, radars and other structures on the Pacific islands surrounding the island of Taiwan. You don't think it's all over without a plan, because when you implement it, it's all money, and even a lot of money, and where the money comes from is a big question. Because the money can only come from all branches of the U.S. military, including the Army, Navy, and Air Force. However, the motivations for the combat missions of the various branches of the U.S. and the seven combatant commands are different, and they tend to focus on short-term needs and do not provide all the funds needed for a potential war. You can understand that the reason why the US Congress is reluctant to invest heavily in the Indo-Pacific deterrence program is because the various services and combat commands are simply unwilling to invest too much money in the issue of fighting against China, because this conflict is not certain in the first place.
The original Indo-Pacific Deterrence Strategy had five goals: to improve presence, logistics, exercises, infrastructure, and partner capabilities in the Pacific. Every year, the Pentagon creates a budget and then reviews it to see what contributes to deterrence in the Pacific. The total is then highlighted in its budget request. The command simply resubmitted in next year's report, in addition to additional needs, those priorities for which there were no funds. As a result, the dollar amount snowballs over the years. When Davidson testified before Congress in 2021, his report listed $4.7 billion in needs. This year, that figure is $26.5 billion, of which $11 billion in priority projects are unfunded. The U.S. Congress argues that the success of the initiative depends on how U.S. politicians view the risk of war in the Pacific, and that if war is not imminent, it is questionable whether deterrence will be better or worse.
It can be seen that the United States' deterrence strategy against China is falling into unprecedented confusion, mainly for the following reasons:
First, the gap between the US military strength and the PLA in India is widening rapidly.
Second, American politicians believe that the prospects of fighting with the Chinese military on their doorstep are unclear;
Third, the United States is not clear in its judgment on the prospect of a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
Fourth, it is unclear whether the increased U.S. military deployment in the Indo-Pacific region will deter China.
Fifth, all U.S. operational commanders and branches of the U.S. have their own priorities and are competing for resources with the Indo-Pacific deterrence strategy.
In general, it is one thing for the US military to prepare for war against China, shouting slogans, and it is another thing whether or not to actively invest huge amounts of money. This also fully proves that Chinese mainland's Taiwan Strait strategy is clever and firmly grasps the initiative, and the further time passes, the more beneficial it will be to China, because the day we take action, the Americans will not be ready at all.