The U.S., Japanese and Australian navies held their fifth joint exercise of the year in the South China Sea on Oct. 19.
The U.S. National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 passed the House and Senate this week. The bill addresses many aspects of the Chinese Communist Party, with the new “Pacific Deterrence Initiative” drawing particular attention. Analysts say the new deterrence plan provides an important step in effectively deterring the Chinese Communist Party and strengthening the U.S. defense posture in Asia.
The U.S. Senate passed the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act on Friday (Dec. 11) with 84 votes in favor and 13 votes against. The bill had passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday by an overwhelming majority.
The annual defense authorization law would provide a $740.5 billion defense budget in fiscal year 2021, covering everything from military pay to equipment procurement and foreign affairs. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday before the vote on the bill, “The bill will prepare our troops to deter the Chinese Communist Party and present a strong posture in the Indo-Pacific region.”
New plan to deter CCP underscores beginning of shift in U.S. strategic focus
As a key component of deterring the Chinese Communist Party, the National Defense Authorization Act would launch a new Pacific Deterrence Initiative and allocate $2.2 billion for the program in fiscal year 2021 to strengthen the U.S. deterrence and defense posture in the Indo-Pacific region and deepen cooperation with allies. The new program is modeled after the European Deterrence Initiative, which was established in 2014 to assist NATO allies in dealing with Russia.
In a summary of the bill, the Senate Armed Services Committee said, “The ‘Pacific Deterrence Program’ will send a strong signal to the Chinese Communist Party and any potential adversaries, as well as to our allies and partners, that the United States is deeply committed to defending our interests in that region.”
Zack Cooper, a defense policy fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, believes the deterrence plan may be the most important piece of legislation on Asia in recent years, signaling the beginning of a shift in U.S. strategic focus.
He told Voice of America, “$2 billion won’t completely shift the U.S. center of gravity, but it’s the beginning. We’ve seen that the House and Senate have a bipartisan base on this issue, and they really want to shift the U.S. focus more toward Asia. I think that’s a very important long-term signal.”
The National Defense Authorization Act calls for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative to prioritize the following activities in the Indo-Pacific region, primarily west of the International Date Line: modernize and enhance the U.S. military presence; improve logistics and maintenance capabilities and the advance deployment of equipment, munitions, fuel and other materiel; conduct joint force exercises, training, testing and innovation programs; improve infrastructure to enhance the responsiveness and resilience of U.S. forces; and build the defensive security capabilities and cooperation of allies and partners.
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), a senior member, wrote earlier this year that the Pacific Deterrence Initiative is designed to leave Beijing with only one conclusion: You can’t win militarily, so don’t even try.
They said the deterrence program would focus resources on critical military capability gaps, including investments in land-based long-range strike capabilities, theater missile defense, expeditionary airfield and port infrastructure, and fuel and munitions reserves, as a way to modernize combat platforms and enhance U.S. deterrence capabilities against the Chinese Communist Party in the Indo-Pacific region.
According to Timothy Heath, senior fellow for international defense at the RAND Corporation, the Pacific Deterrence Initiative is important because it marks a shift in the way the U.S. deploys and prepares for war against the Chinese Communist Party.
He told VOA by email, “The Pacific Deterrent Program recognizes that the CCP’s military has become more lethal and that the U.S. defense program, which was based on producing combat platforms and weapons rather than being mission-driven, needs to change. The new strategy will use the mission of deterring the CCP as a driver for new military equipment procurement and capability building. It will allow the United States to manage the U.S. military presence in Asia in a more dynamic manner, such as placing greater emphasis on reducing U.S. logistical vulnerabilities, securing U.S. base options, and improving operational concepts to allow U.S. forces to fight alongside allies.”
The National Defense Authorization Act requires the secretary of defense to tell Congress next February what resources are needed to achieve the goals of the Pacific Deterrence Initiative and to submit annual reports thereafter. In a report accompanying the bill, lawmakers urged the Pentagon to prioritize the Pacific Deterrent Program, for which they expect the budget to double to $5.5 billion in fiscal year 2022.
“The Pacific Deterrence Program provides an important step in repositioning military challenges, how to more effectively deter the Chinese Communist Party and enhance the U.S. posture in Asia, but it is only one step,” said Ho Tien Mu.
Nearly 40 provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act address the Chinese Communist Party
In addition to the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act contains nearly 40 provisions related to or associated with the Chinese Communist Party, covering a wide range of military, technical, academic, economic and trade areas, reflecting the full range of challenges posed by the Chinese Communist Party. These provisions are intended to deter “malicious acts” by the Chinese Communist Party, ensure the U.S. strategic competitive advantage, and protect the United States from infiltration, the lawmakers said.
For example, the bill requires the president to develop a “whole-of-government strategy” to impose costs on the CCP to deter industrial espionage and large-scale theft of personal information; requires the Defense Department to establish policies and procedures to protect defense-sensitive intellectual property, technology and other information; restrict defense industry employees and former employees from working directly for Chinese companies; restrict DoD grants to U.S. colleges and universities with Confucius Institutes; require the establishment of a list of Chinese military companies operating in the United States; prohibit exports of defense equipment to the Hong Kong police; restrict CCP assistance from the World Bank; require U.S. representatives in international financial institutions to seek transparency in Chinese lending; and protect U.S. supply chain and reduce over-reliance on Chinese manufacturing.
The new National Defense Authorization Act also requires the U.S. Department of Defense to consider the risks associated with the use of “at-risk” 5G or 6G networks, services and equipment, such as Huawei and ZTE, in host countries and the measures needed to mitigate those risks before permanently deploying new weapons, equipment and forces overseas. The bill also requires the Pentagon to notify Congress 90 days in advance of any attempt to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Korea to less than 28,500.
In addition, the National Defense Authorization Act lists support for Taiwan as a means of deterring the Chinese Communist Party, supports the continued sale of needed weapons to Taiwan, maintains Taiwan’s necessary self-defense capabilities, and builds a medical security partnership with Taiwan.
After passing the Senate on Friday, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 still needs to be signed by President Trump before it can take effect.
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