Pentagon chief says US faces pivotal years in countering China

U.S. is at a pivotal point with China and will need military strength to ensure that American values, not Beijing's, set global norms in 21st century, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Saturday.

Austin’s speech at Reagan National Defense Forum capped a week in which Pentagon was squarely focused on China’s rise and what that might mean for America’s position in world.

On Monday it released an annual China security report that warned Beijing would likely have 1,500 nuclear warhes by 2035, with no clarity on how China would seek to use m.

On Friday in a dramatic nighttime rollout, Austin was on hand as public got its first glimpse of military’s newest, highly classified nuclear stealth bomber, B-21 Raider, which is being designed to best quickly growing cyber, space and nuclear capabilities of Beijing.

China “is only country with both will and, increasingly, power to reshape its region and international order to suit its authoritarian preferences,” Austin said Saturday. “So let me be clear: We will not let that happen.”

Pentagon is also concerned about Russia and remains committed to arming Ukraine while avoiding escalating that conflict into a U.S. war with Moscow, he said at forum, held at Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

“We will not be dragged into Putin’s war,” Austin said.

“se next few years will set terms of our competition with People’s Republic of China. y will shape future of security in Europe,” Austin said. “And y will determine wher our children and grandchildren inherit an open world of rules and rights — or wher y face emboldened autocrats who seek to dominate by force and fear.”

Still, between two nuclear power threats, China remains greater risk, Austin said.

To meet that rise, “we’re aligning our budget as never before to China challenge,” Austin said. “In our imperfect world, deterrence does come through strength."

bomber is part of a major nuclear tri overhaul underway that Congressional Budget Office has estimated will cost $1.2 trillion through 2046.

It includes Raider serving as backbone of future air leg of tri, but it also requires modernizing nation's silo-launched nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles and its nuclear submarine fleet.

Defense Department has largest discretionary budget of all federal agencies, and it may receive up to $847 billion in 2023 budget if Congress passes current funding bill before this legislative session ends.

However, defense vocates argue it is still not enough to modernize and keep up with China because much of that spending goes to military personnel. CBO estimates that about one-quarter of defense budget is spent on personnel costs such as salaries, health care and retirement accounts.