South China Morning Post
Advertisement
Advertisement
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd and US Coast Guard cutter Munro conduct Taiwan Strait transits last year. Photo: Reuters
Opinion
Editorial
by SCMP Editorial
Editorial
by SCMP Editorial

America’s bloated military spending is at odds with reality

  • If the US wants to compete with China, it would do better to invest in education, technology and infrastructure
  • The Biden administration is especially worried about China’s technological prowess
SCMP Editorial
SCMP Editorial
Why you can trust SCMP
US President Joe Biden hinted during his country’s tumultuous troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in August that wasteful military spending was at an end. Yet barely four months later, he has signed into law a defence bill of US$768 billion, US$30 billion more than before and by the calculations of some analysts, a record amount.

A major reason is China. Considered a strategic competitor by the United States’ national security establishment, the perceived threat is seen as justification to substantially increase expenditure. With more warships, fighter planes and weapons destined for East Asia and the Pacific, the risks of confrontation and conflict are only going to grow.

The legislation, the national Defence Authorisation Act, covers the financial year that began on October 1. Spending was increased by lawmakers in almost every part of the military, including the allocation of extra funding to counter China’s armed forces expansion, procurement of advanced weaponry, aircraft and ships, and the defence of Ukraine, perceived as being threatened by Russia.

The bill was approved with wide bipartisan support in both houses of Congress. Lawmakers considered Biden’s original budget insufficient to counter China and boosted it by a further US$24 billion.

The Pentagon building in Washington. Photo: AFP

Biden’s administration is especially worried about China’s technological prowess. The original proposal of a 5 per cent increase in research and development was raised by US$5.7 billion to US$117.7 billion. American politicians believe the US is losing its global influence to China and that military force is an important way to stop proliferation. Hostile rhetoric and actions by Washington and countermeasures by Beijing have heightened tensions.

US defence spending outstrips that of the combined total of the next 11 countries in the world. Defence contractors are only too pleased to get extra business and there will be a financial flow-on to their lobbyists, creating an upwards spiral.

China’s 2021 budget for its military increased by 6.8 per cent to 1.3 trillion yuan (US$209 billion), understandable given the need for modernisation and expansion to protect the nation’s global interests. The significant boost being given by Washington to the resources of its air force, navy and army are inevitably cause for the branches of the People’s Liberation Army to seek greater funding to counter the perceived increased threat.

An arms race is not what the world needs with the worsening Covid-19 pandemic and the impact to supply chains, trade and travel. If the US wants to compete with China, it would do better to invest in education, technology and infrastructure. Inflating a perceived threat when none exists is feeding an already bloated military, risking confrontation and conflict.

14