Thread by @AndrewSErickson

Revealing #testimony from @INDOPACOM Commander #Admiral Phil #Davidson @SASCDems/@SASCGOP @HASCDemocrats/@HASCRepublicans!

Ideally, read 41 pp. “US #IndoPacific Command Posture”:

armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/…

No time? See my excerpts: bit.ly/AdmiralDavidson

andrewerickson.com/2021/03/testim…

"The greatest danger for the United States in this competition is the erosion of conventional deterrence..Absent a convincing deterrent, the [PRC] will be emboldened to take action to undermine the rules-based international order"

armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/…

bit.ly/AdmiralDavidson

ADM Davidson:

"In September 2020, #Cambodia razed a #US-built facility on #Ream Naval Base that served as the headquarters for the National Committee on Maritime Security, reportedly in order to make way for a #PRC #naval #base."

armed-services.senate.gov/hearings/21-03…

bit.ly/AdmiralDavidson

"The #PRC represents our greatest strategic threat. ..Beijing is growing increasingly confident & PRC leaders have demonstrated a willingness to accept friction to pursue a more expansive set of political, economic & security..particularly acute concerning #sovereignty #disputes"

"The #PRC maintains the #world’s #largest #naval #force, which has #tripled in size over the past two decades.

The #PLAN commissioned more than 25 major #ships in 2020 alone, including combatants, amphibious warfare ships, and two nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines."

"PRC is pursuing a range of advanced weaponry, including electromagnetic railguns, hypersonic glide vehicles & land-attack & anti-ship supersonic cruise missiles

& the #PLA #RocketForce conducts more #ballistic #missile live-fires every year than the rest of the world combined."

"In August 2020 for example, the PRC conducted coordinated #DF21D #missile launches into the #SouthChinaSea..capable of attacking #aircraft #carriers in the western Pacific..demonstrates the PLA’s focus on countering any potential 3rd-party intervention during a regional crisis."

#Admiral Phil #Davidson on PRC Threats in #IndoPacific:

"The #PRC has adopted an increasingly assertive #military posture to exert pressure & expand its influence across the region. This is particularly stark concerning #Taiwan."

bit.ly/AdmiralDavidson

andrewerickson.com/2021/03/testim…

"The #PRC continues to #militarize the [#SouthChinaSea], deploying new equipment to its #artificial #outposts in 2020 & using forward airfields to support a growing level of #military operations by heavy transport, intelligence & anti-submarine aircraft."

bit.ly/AdmiralDavidson

"#PLA ships & aircraft maintain a consistent #SCS presence & are augmented by an #armada of #China #CoastGuard ships, fishing boats & other para-mil. forces that serve as force multipliers."

bit.ly/AdmiralDavidson

andrewerickson.com/2021/03/testim…

#PAFMM #MaritimeMilitia #LittleBlueMen

"#PRC ships & aircraft continue to harass & disrupt other nations’ commercial fishing & resource exploration & extraction activities, even when conducted in areas where #China cannot assert a lawful maritime claim within the respective countries’ exclusive economic zones (#EEZs)"

"#PRC #ships conducted presence operations in the contiguous waters around the Senkakus for a record 333 days in 2020, an increase of nearly 20% from 2019. In a reprise of its earlier #SCS maneuvering, in June 2020, Beijing unilaterally renamed 50 geographic features in the #ECS"

"Beijing utilizes loans, grants & monetary gifts to establish economic dependence, corruptly capture elite allegiance & in some cases, consolidate control..the naval base currently under redevelopment at Ream, Cambodia, is the latest example of the PRC’s global basing ambitions."

"CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS

The #greatest #danger for the United States is the #erosion of #conventional #deterrence. Without a valid & convincing conventional deterrent, the #PRC will be emboldened to take action in the region to supplant US interests."

bit.ly/AdmiralDavidson

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