China Rapidly Ramps Up Military Forces as US Troops Held Over 100 Drills Near Beijing in 2021

The growing strength and capabilities of China's military have alarmed military officers and policymakers in the United States and throughout the world.

The People's Liberation Army of China is the world's largest active-duty military. It has the world's largest fleet and the world's third largest aviation force when its air force and navy are combined. It continues to develop long-range missiles, grow its fighter aircraft force, and build warships.

China's Military Remains Untested

Despite its new and formidable weapons, the PLA has yet to be tested in large-scale military operations, according to Harry Harris, a retired US Navy admiral who oversaw the US Indo-Pacific Command from 2015 to 2018.

Harris compared the Chinese military's experience with that of the US military, which has waged operations of various severity for much of the past 20 years, speaking at West Conference. While PLA soldiers have clashed with Indian troops along their disputed border, Chinese troops have not been "tested writ large like US ground forces and the Marine Corps," according to Harris, who was also the US ambassador to South Korea from 2018 to 2021.

While China's military is growing its foreign footprint and investing in logistical skills, Harris believes the PLA's capacity to send its soldiers to the point of necessity is severely constrained. Although the US pullout from Afghanistan was a debacle, Harris believes China would be unable to evacuate 120,000 people from the nation in a few weeks with little warning.

China's military services lack combat experience, but the US military's service divisions have been honing their combined operating capability for decades. When China attacked northern Vietnam in 1979, it was the country's final major conflict. Although the fight only lasted a few weeks, China's performance was highly criticized.

Beijing's casualties are estimated to be between 7,900 and 26,000 troops dead and 23,000 to 37,000 injured. During the brief conflict, China's air force and navy likewise played no part in combat operations, according to Business Insider.

US Conducts 100+ Military Drills Near China in 2021

Through publicly accessible statistics, the United States conducted 95 military exercises in and near the South China Sea in 2021, but the article claims that the true number is over 100. The remaining 81 drills were combined exercises with other countries including Japan, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, France, and Canada.

Aside from that, Washington flew at least 1,200 close-in reconnaissance sorties with big spy planes over the South China Sea and performed 419 ship days of marine surveys. According to Song Zhongping, a Chinese military analyst, the US is creating new war ideas because it recognizes that all of its existing military sites, including those in South Korea and Japan, are no longer secure and that it requires more bases.

The US is attempting to legitimize parts of its war concepts by acknowledging Beijing's air and maritime superiority within the first island, citing US papers on the Indo-Pacific Strategy. The United States is developing new technologies including long-range hypersonic weapons, precision strike, and missile defense systems, new maritime warfare systems, directed energy weapons, antiballistic missile technology, and next-generation nuclear-powered attack submarines and destroyers, Republic World reported.

Meanwhile, in a fiery speech confirming that the Solomon Islands has drafted a security agreement with China, the island nation's leader said the agreement was ready for signing on Tuesday and slammed Australia's and New Zealand's fears that the treaty may jeopardize the region's security.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare spoke to Parliament for the first time on the security agreement document that was leaked last week. The document sparked alarm in an area where fears about China's influence have been increasing for years. It was circulated by opponents of the pact and validated as authentic by the Australian government.

According to the proposal, Chinese warships might enter the country or Chinese forces could interfere domestically on the island in times of crisis, putting them on the doorstep of Australia and New Zealand, as per New York Times.

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