Opinion | China takes aim at the US for the first time in its defence white paper

Beijing acknowledges the rivalry with the US military, attacks its presence in the Asia-Pacific as destabilising and provocative, and clearly outlines China’s long-term aim to challenge US dominance

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Chinese sailors in full dress on the deck of the missile destroyer Xi'an during a military parade in Russia on July 28. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 1:00am, 7 Aug 2019Updated: 2:40am, 7 Aug 2019

China’s official documents are renowned for being lengthy, lacking content, with repetitive rhetoric, orthodox ideology and ambiguous policy. This has largely been the case for China’s defence white papers, released once every two years since 1998.

However, the 10th defence white paper, published on July 24, deserves attention, given that it contains significant updates and fresh ideas. The 51-page document, titled “China’s National Defence in the New Era”, is the first detailed response to a host of US defence policy statements.

Washington has thrown down the gauntlet to Beijing, with several key policy statements – its 2017 national security strategy, the 2018 national defence strategy and the 2019 report on Chinese military power – having effectively made China its primary strategic competitor.

The new Chinese defence paper describes the United States military in Asia as destabilising, as the US recasts its security architecture in the Asia-Pacific and hews its strategic horizons to the Indo-Pacific concept.

For the first time, Beijing acknowledges the US strategic shift from the “war on terror” to its rivalry with China and Russia. It acknowledges the competition between the world’s sole superpower and the fast-rising one. The paper points out that the US is building and relocating its military assets in the Western Pacific, with multilateral naval exercises with Japan, Australia, India and European navies.

“The US has adjusted its national security and defence strategies. It has provoked and intensified competition among major countries,” the white paper states.

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