US commander pushes for more funding to counter China’s influence in Indo-Pacific
- Admiral Phil Davidson tells Senate panel Beijing is seeking to ‘bend, break and replace the existing rules-based international order’
- He warns China has become the ‘principal threat’ to American interests, people and allies with its PLA modernisation
The US Indo-Pacific commander has urged America’s strategic decision-making body to increase financial investment in the region to counter China’s expanding economic and military influence.
“Through fear and coercion, Beijing is working to expand its form of ideology in order to bend, break and replace the existing rules-based international order,” Admiral Phil Davidson told a panel at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday.
“In its place, Beijing seeks to create a new international order led by China and with ‘Chinese characteristics’ – an outcome that displaces the stability and peace of the Indo-Pacific that has endured for over 70 years,” he said.
Davidson warned that China had become the “principal threat” to American interests, people and allies with the modernisation of the People’s Liberation Army in the past two decades.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Davidson’s remarks were aimed at finding excuses for the US military’s bigger presence in the region.