WASHINGTON: The United States must prepare for possible simultaneous wars with China and Russia by expanding its conventional forces, enhancing its nuclear weapons modernization programme, and strengthening alliances, a congressionally appointed bipartisan panel said on Thursday.
The report from the Strategic Posture Commission comes amid tensions with Being over Taiwan and other matters and worsening frictions with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
The findings would upend current American national security strategy calling for winning one conflict while deterring another and need huge defense spending increases with uncertain support from the Congress.
Report contrasts with President’s position
The report contrasts with US President Joe Biden’s stance that the current nuclear arsenal of the US is sufficient to deter the combined forces of China and Russia.
The Arms Control Association advocacy group said in response to the report taht te arsenal’s makeup still exceeds what is required to hold a sufficient number of adversary targets at risk so as to deter enemy nuclear attack, according to US media reports.
The Strategic Posture Commission said that the US and its allies must be ready to deter and defeat both enemies simultaneously. The US-led iworld order and the values it upholds are at risk from the Russian and Chinese authoritarian regimes.
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Congress last year created the panel of 6 Democrats and 6 Republicans to assess long-term threats to the US and recommend changes in its conventional and nuclear forces.
The panel accepted a Pentagon forecast that the rapid nuclear arsenal expansion of China likely will give it 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035, confronting the US with a second major nuclear-armed rival for the first time.
The Chinese and Russian threats will become very serious in the 2027-2035 timeframe so decisions need to be made now in order for the country to be prepared, said the 145-page report.
