The Pentagon Wednesday released its annual report to Congress that revealed some eyebrow-raising claims that deal with the rise of the Chinese military. But what does that mean to the United States?
On Wednesday’s “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel, syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer interpreted the report to mean that China is looking to challenge the United States, but not necessarily on a global basis right away.
“Well, look, I think what is important here is to understand that there are two questions with China: the capacity — its capacities and its intentions,” Krauthammer said. “And everybody pretends its intentions are obscure. It is not. It’s obvious that China wants to dominate its region.
“It might be a question as to whether ultimately it wants to challenge us on a global level the way the Soviets did in the Atlantic and other places. But if it happens, it’s half a century away.”
Instead, Krauthammer suggested that China wants to take on the United States’ presence in the Western Pacific, where it is the dominant power.
“What we are talking about is now and the next decade or two,” he explained. “Obviously it wants us out of the Western Pacific, which we have dominated. It’s our waters. It’s our pond and China is developing all these weapon systems, which would be a way to deny us access.”
“You’ve got the cyberspace, the outer space, the surface ships, the submarines, the aircraft carrier, the ship to ship missiles, the J20 fighter,” he continued. “All of these would be weapon systems that would make it difficult or dangerous for America to enter the waters.”