US defence strategy banks on strength – not confrontation – to deny China in Indo-Pacific

The United States will use strength – not confrontation – to deter China in the Indo-Pacific, the Defence Department said, laying out its national strategy to protect the “homeland”.

The US would also push allies to pay more for their defence, it said on Saturday in the 34-page document outlining the country’s security environment and approaches for the next four years.

According to the strategy, the goal after protecting the “homeland and hemisphere” is to deter China “from being able to dominate us or our allies”.

To that end, the US will erect a strong denial defence along the first island chain, which stretches from Japan to Taiwan and the Philippines and is crucial to controlling access to the Pacific.

“We will also urge and enable key regional allies and partners to do more for our collective defence. In doing so, we will reinforce deterrence by denial so that all nations recognise that their interests are best served through peace and restraint,” it said.

Meanwhile, the department will seek and open a wider range of military-to-military communications with the People’s Liberation Army with a focus on supporting strategic stability with Beijing as well as “deconfliction” and de-escalation.

South China Morning Post