The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is preparing for war. They are mass producing increasingly sophisticated warships, warplanes—supposedly a new sixth-generation plane—nuclear weapons, hypersonic weapons, and an assortment of other platforms that could utterly devastate the United States military and the forces of its allies. All these actions by China are in anticipation of a major military move, either a blockade or an invasion (possibly both), of their democratic neighbor of Taiwan.
American analysts may not have all the specifics about China’s military buildup. But the Pentagon and its partner organizations know that the buildup is happening at a breakneck pace. Yet, these systems are all offensive platforms on some level. They’re obvious. What all but a handful of observers have missed are the defensive measures that China is taking to better protect its forces from what they assume will be serious American military retaliation once China initiates its war against Taiwan.
China Hardens More Bases Than the Americans
A stark report from Nikkei Asia opens with these caustic words: “China has fortified its air bases in recent years with enough concrete to pave a four-lane highway from Washington, D.C. to Chicago.” Similarly, a recent Hudson Institute analysis concluded that the Chinese have “more than doubled the number of ‘hardened’ aircraft shelters since the early 2010s, to over 800 from 370.”
Some may have the tendency to shrug at these statements. After all, is this not the actions that every military takes as a matter of course?
In theory, yes. But in the case of the United States military, not quite. While the Americans have dithered for the last decade on the need to solidify the defenses of their own air bases throughout the Western Pacific, Beijing has methodically expanded the hardening of their air bases.
Understanding the Buildup
When one looks at the military buildup that China has been engaged in since Xi Jinping became president in 2012, the inclusion of this data point indicates that something much more serious is at hand—and it does not bode well for what is an otherwise under-resourced and poorly defended US military presence in the Indo-Pacific.
The fact that the Americans have only hardened a small fraction of their air bases compared to the staggering number that China has hardened indicates that a gross imbalance exists in the Western Pacific between the Americans and Chinese. An imbalance that clearly favors Beijing. As the Hudson Institute report asserts, “[Chinese] forces would need to fire far fewer ‘shots’ to suppress or destroy US, allies, and partner airfields than the converse,” under present conditions.
China is preparing for an out-of-the-blue attack, not only on Taiwan but on Taiwan’s major allies, notably the United States military, which has forces spread throughout the region. Everything from attacking American space assets to debilitating cyberattacks to blasting American airbases in the region with their massive missile arsenal, China is not leaving anything to chance. The hardening of China’s airbases is further proof of this.
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a Senior Fellow at the Center for the National Interest, and a contributor at Popular Mechanics, consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
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