The clock is ticking for China

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Report from The Heritage Foundation think tank...

Nearly four years ago, the Indo–Pacific Commander, Admiral Philip Davidson, gave the warning that the Chinese Communist Party was preparing for a war with the U.S. by 2027. Since that time, too little meaningful progress has been achieved to alter the military balance and deter China’s leaders from acting on that goal—to defeat the U.S. and subjugate Taiwan. The urgency for real action cannot be understated; as time goes by there are fewer options available while the cost for real deterrence grows. Failing to act, however, could result in the most destructive and consequential war the U.S. has ever had to fight.

An Increasingly Dangerous World for America

As Americans go about their daily lives unmolested, the world is accelerating in its change—much of it perilous to U.S. national survival. The past four years has seen Iran’s proxy the Houthis engage the U.S. Navy in the Red Sea; Iranian proxies attack American armed forces across the Middle East without consequence; and, of course, Hamas’ coordinated, barbaric assault on Israel on October 7, 2023. And the avoidable war between Russia and Ukraine in its third year has settled into an unsustainable attritional contest due to a series of miscalculations and dithering by Washington.

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China’s Nuclear Arsenal Breakout. Finally, and perhaps most shocking, is China’s nuclear arsenal breakout. In 2021, satellite imagery uncovered three new fields of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) silos being constructed in the Gobi Desert—quadrupling China’s ICBM arsenal to 400 missiles by mid-2024. In October 2021, it was reported China had tested a fractional orbital bombardment system that greatly complicates U.S. missile defenses with its unlimited range and vectors of attack.

The U.S. response has been lackluster in recapitalizing its nuclear deterrent forces: Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines are behind schedule and have too few missile tubes to meet the threat. And gaps in the U.S. nuclear escalation ladder have been dangerously evident at times. Case in point, amid the Ukraine war, Russia has made threats to use tactical nuclear weapons for which the U.S. and its allies have no comparable response option.

Full article:
Arming for Peace: Expanding the Defense Industrial Base and Arming Taiwan Faster