The Pentagon, in 2018, named China and Russia as the two countries posing the most significant rivals to the US military. Now security professionals claim that this has only grown more true as the countries develop their own military capabilities matching that of the United States’. Beijing’s modernization helped to push the military into the role of a true global power able to comfortably exercise its force throughout the Indo-Pacific region.
Beijing has been using its naval units in the Pacific ocean more frequently, occasionally conducting five separate exercises in a matter of days. In the South China Sea, China’s actions post a threat to the US military’s policy of a free and open Indo-Pacific where commerce should flow without intimidation. Experts have labeled China’s military power as the biggest threat to US superiority in the industry.
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