WASHINGTON — The top U.S. military officer is warning of a growing arms
race in the western Pacific, as nations become increasingly concerned
about China's military buildup in the region following Russia's invasion
of Ukraine.

"There's a really an underreported arms race going on in the western
Pacific right now. These countries are arming themselves up, and they very
much, with very few exceptions, want the United States there," Gen. Mark
Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told members of the
Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

Australia this month unveiled a $200 billion plan for nuclear-powered
submarines. Japan has also increased its offensive capabilities and
doubled its defense investments, all while announcing new deployments of
U.S. troops on Japan's southern islands that will bring with them mobile
anti-ship missiles meant to counter any first strike from Beijing.

https://www.voanews.com/a/top-us-military-officer-warns-of-arms-race-in-western-pacific/7026600.html

Meanwhile, Beijing has asserted its desire to control access to the South
China Sea and bring Taiwan under its control, by force if necessary.
Milley said China was "trying to become the regional hegemon,"
disadvantaging other countries like the Philippines as part of that effort.

"That's why the secretary traveled to the Philippines. That's why we're
looking at access basing and oversight. That's why we're looking at a
re-posturing in the western Pacific. It is a design there to be forward
deployed in order to deter armed conflict with a great power, great power
being China in this case," Milley said.

In February, the Philippines designated four additional bases for U.S.
forces to operate in. The announcement marked a sharp turn back toward the
United States, after former Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte had
distanced himself from Washington.

"Two years ago, we were about to get kicked out of the Philippines,"
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

The U.S. has continued to expand its military partnerships with South
Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia and others in hopes of
keeping international waterways open and building what officials,
including Milley, have called a "strategic advantage over China."

But Republican lawmakers Tuesday sharply criticized the Pentagon's
proposed budget as inadequate, especially in the Pacific region.

"For the third year in a row, President [Joe] Biden has sent to Congress a
budget request that cuts military spending amid a more dangerous and
complex threat environment," said the committee's ranking member, Senator
Roger Wicker of Mississippi.

"This year's budget is the last one that funds capabilities that are
likely to be fielded before 2027. That's the year by which [Chinese
President] Xi Jinping says he wants the People's Liberation Army to be
ready to take Taiwan. That makes our work here very urgent," he warned.

Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska questioned the budget cuts at a time that
Milley and Austin agreed was the most dangerous since World War II.

### - you'd think for once they'd find a 'better' use for such 'huge'
resources huh...

https://youtu.be/KgzQuE1pR1w?t=98

(in a sane world maybe, never wallyworld)