Just before Christmas the US Defense Department released the annual assessment of Chinese military power ⬇️

“In 2023, the PRC continued its efforts to form the PLA into an increasingly capable instrument of national power. Throughout the year, the PLA adopted more coercive actions in the Indo-Pacific region while accelerating its development of capabilities and concepts to strengthen the PRC’s ability to fight and win wars against a strong enemy, counter an intervention by a third party in a conflict along the PRC’s periphery, and project power globally”

In addition to the report itself, we recommend the summary Council on Foreign Relations has produced to orient your thinking. The Council on Foreign Relations analysis includes the ongoing challenge of China’s industrial strength in comparison to the West:

“China’s military modernization is enabled by a world-class defense industrial base… this stands in stark contrast to a U.S. defense industrial base that is struggling to produce everything from submarines to surface warships and munitions”

A few points the Council on Foreign Relations focused on from the report:

1️⃣ The PLA Navy is numerically the largest navy in the world, with 370 ships and submarines, while DoD projects it will have 395 ships by 2025 and 435 by 2030.

2️⃣ China is capable of producing a wide range of naval combatants, gas turbine and diesel engines, and shipboard weapons and electronic systems, making it nearly self-sufficient for all shipbuilding needs.

3️⃣ China has sufficient capacity to produce and repair any required numbers of naval classes: submarines, surface combatants, and auxiliary and amphibious ships.

The challenge is clear, but political will and societal awareness in the West is lagging – the holiday from history is over and the free world needs to get to work.

🖼️ via US Department of Defense