US Army focuses on Indo-Pacific logistics, bases to deter China, says its top official

‘Given the distance that China has come militarily in the last 20 years, we have to be clear eyed about the challenge we now face,’ says US Army secretary

US Army is carrying out space and cyber electronic warfare exercises and strengthening military ties with Indonesia, Thailand and India

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Commuters walk past an advertisement promoting the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force at a subway station in Beijing, China on November 22. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 5:15am, 2 Dec 2021Updated: 8:33am, 2 Dec 2021

As US-China tensions increase and Washington pivots to the Indo-Pacific, the US Army is preparing for any potential conflict with China by focusing on bases, logistics and long-range missiles suited to the region’s vast distances, its top official said Wednesday.

Economic pressure and diplomacy are the best tools in preventing the two nations’ forces from going “kinetic”, said US Army Secretary Christine Wormuth. But the US also needs to ensure that Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders think twice before launching an attack on Taiwan or taking reckless action in the South China Sea.

“The best strategy is to make sure that our deterrent posture is sufficiently strong that President Xi, every day, to the extent that he might think about trying to forcibly reunify with Taiwan, decides that today is not the day to do that,” added Wormuth, the army’s first female secretary.

In recent decades, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has studied US military strategy for weaknesses through the 1991 Gulf War, 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis, 1999 accidental bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade and 2003 invasion of Iraq, spurring PLA modernisation, she said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (centre) poses for photos with representatives attending a conference on military-talent-related work in Beijing, China on November 26. Photo: Xinhua via AP

It now has the world’s largest navy by its number of vessels; recently tested a hypersonic weapon; is ramping up its nuclear arsenal, space and cyber capabilities; and has 2 million people in uniform, including 975,000 active in army combat units, according to Pentagon estimates.