China-US rivalry: Washington must keep pace with Beijing on military spending, analysts say
- America ‘must work with allies to ensure they are capable of meeting the challenges and potential threats posed by China’, political scientist Larry Wortzel says
- Beijing’s latest spending plans ‘confirm that China’s leaders continue to prioritise military modernisation’, Centre for Strategic and International Security report says
China’s increased defence spending, outsize ambition and growing coordination of civilian and military technologies and capabilities represent a potential threat to American interests and operations in the Pacific, according to US analysts.
“The US cannot afford to take its focus off maintaining parity or a lead on China,” said Larry Wortzel, a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council. “The US must work with allies to ensure they are capable of meeting the challenges and potential threats posed by China’s military and defence programmes.”
“Instead of fixating on Beijing, or worse, emulating China’s top down, inefficient, state driven approach to R&D, the US government can use this announcement [of China’s military spending plans] as a further nudge to get our own innovation house in order,” said Anja Manuel, a former diplomat and partner at Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel, a strategic consulting firm.
“We could also give smart tax credits to the most important technologies,” she said. “Currently I think you can get roughly the same R&D tax credit for developing a new craft beer and a new microchip.”
