June 4, 2015
The U.S. Response to China’s Military Modernization
by Mark Cozad
he 114th Congress has the opportunity to set the tone in military relations with China through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2015. As the NDAA awaits approval in the Senate, some analysts have raised concerns about the potential for an escalating arms race between the United States and China, while others have emphasized the rate of growth in China’s military expenditures and lack of transparency in budgets and intentions. China has consistently increased its official annual defense expenditures for more than two decades, while appearing to emphasize strategic forces modernization and the development of key anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) capabilities. These military investments provide China with a greater ability to project and sustain power at increasingly longer ranges while also challenging U.S. power-projection capabilities by attempting to undermine traditional U.S. technological advantages.