--- title: Is China Readying to Kick the U.S. Out of the Western Pacific? | TIME description: What capacity does the U.S. have to confront the long-distance challenge from China in the Western Pacific? canonical: https://time.com/video/yol5qPZs/ og:title: Is China Readying to Kick the U.S. Out of the Western Pacific? og:description: What capacity does the U.S. have to confront the long-distance challenge from China in the Western Pacific? og:url: https://time.com/video/yol5qPZs/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/yol5qPZs/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Is China Readying to Kick the U.S. Out of the Western Pacific? twitter:description: What capacity does the U.S. have to confront the long-distance challenge from China in the Western Pacific? twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/yol5qPZs/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Is China Readying to Kick the U.S. Out of the Western Pacific? > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Is China Readying to Kick the U.S. Out of the Western Pacific? [Watch (HLS stream): Is China Readying to Kick the U.S. Out of the Western Pacific?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yol5qPZs.m3u8) (5:28)  _Published 2011-09-26. What capacity does the U.S. have to confront the long-distance challenge from China in the Western Pacific?_ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:17 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [China and the U.S. Offer Rival Visions of the Pacific at the ASEAN Summit](/video/UwHtz6fA/) ### China and the U.S. Offer Rival Visions of the Pacific at the ASEAN Summit [U.S. Woman Charged with Espionage in China](/video/ge6GHGHm/) ### U.S. Woman Charged with Espionage in China [Does U.S.-China Economic Dependence Rule Out War?](/video/oO4zzo4S/) ### Does U.S.-China Economic Dependence Rule Out War? --- ## Transcript This is Command Post, a series of discussions about military matters from Time and The Center For A New American Security. There's much concern in military circles about what's called A squared A D anti- access, area denial capabilities. China increasingly has, has the, the precision weapons to. Threaten our ships and our airplanes at a very long distances from their shore. Can you talk about our capability to, to confront that challenge. And our general military capability out in the Western Pacific. Which, we used to be able to do pretty much anything we wanted to. Well, we, we're still out there and we still have pretty significant capabilities. What what the Chinese challenge poses in this regard, is that we can't be going in close to the Chinese Littoral with impunity. I mean 15 years ago we used to laugh about the Chinese Navy and Air Force. As a brown water navy, as a coastal coast guard, and as an air force that couldn't fly over water. And while that's not the case anymore, and then when you add to the fact, add, add to this that they have anti- ship ballistic missiles. They have new aircraft. Carrier, carrier sinkers. Right? Carrier killers, right. So, so, so the U. S. can no longer really operate with impunity [ UNKNOWN ] and reckless abandon. Now, we have to go in there, very carefully. We have to be watching 360 degrees around. Of course, the Chinese submarine force is is considerable. Nothing slows a carrier battle group faster then submarines that you can't find. So so the U. S. is gonna need to beef up alot of alot of its assets such as its integrated air defense, its electronic warfare. Its ability to control the electronic, electromagnetic spectrum and antisubmarine warfare capabilities. These are capabilities that we must absolutely maintain if not enhance if we're going to keep, continue to operate in, in that, East Asian [ UNKNOWN ] and I suspect we will be. And these are capabilities that, that we haven't really focused on since the demise of the Soviet Union. well, I think, all, I think, maybe ASW, Anti Summary Warfare may be the weakest card in the deck, but the others are, are, are ones that I think that we have given some some, attention to. But as the Chinese put out new systems, we're gonna have to be coming up with new counter systems as well. Well, we're, we're building a couple of $ 20 billion Ford Class aircraft carriers right now. Patrick, are we putting too many eggs in our aircraft carrier basket if indeed the Chinese can perfect a $ 10 million missile that can take out a $ 20 billion aircraft carrier. Depends on the airwing depends on the aircraft that will be on the aircraft carriers and their legs, if they have long sea legs no, no the answer is that we still need aircraft carriers to be that for physical presence. But they will stay for enough away but the missiles cant reach them. That's right they're gonna have to be more sensitive to the dangerous operational [ UNKNOWN ] right near China. They're going to still have major defenses, integrated defenses. Right now we can defeat their DF- 21D missile that's in test flight. This is the carrier- killing missile that, that, that could, could hit a carrier in the future. They're gonna put that technology together. That's just a matter of time. So we're going to clearly need smaller bases. More mobile forces. Smaller assets, and yet, the carriers, and carriers right now are on the chopping block because of the defense cuts. We have to very careful about, cutting our defense, and our naval forces down, below 300 chips. It's already below 300 chips. It's, it's projected to go, slightly above 300. But we've almost never been this low historically in recent memory. And China sees that trend. They're building submarines very quickly. They're putting together their anti satellite weapons, their cyberspace weapons. As well as their anti ship ballistic missiles. They're aircraft, fifth generation aircraft, and their submarines and now a new carrier. Thi, this is the kind of capability that a decade from now has a psychological impact, and then a military impact. And the Chinese strategy, is largely about psychology. Right now they're playing a psychological game, but in a decade from now, this is probably a military game not just a psychological game. And are we building the Navy we need, against this threat? Well Adam I'm not sure I've got the answer to that question. I think, I think frankly that those are the questions that are, that are being asked and debated right now here at home. So we'll have to see as, as time goes on what decisions are gonna be made because clearly not everything that everybody wants in the Pentagon is going to get funded and built. Some, some terrific choices are gonna have to be made. Some costs and benefit calculation is gonna have to be done. so, so that's, that's a discussion that's going on right now. But one thing is for sure. And I think the Chinese have been very clear about this. Even in their publicly released white papers. They have been told since 2004, and then publicly stated in their 2006 white paper, defense white paper, that the Chinese navy has been told to extend China's strategic depth off its shore. And so that's what we're gonna be living with. It doesn't matter what capabilities the Chinese come up with. And, you know whether it's an improved ASBM, a carrier killer, anything else. The fact of the matter is, is that the Chinese are, are gonna be out there. And we've gotta be prepared to, to operate in spite of. 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