Dr. Ely S. Ratner, assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs; Navy Adm. John Aquilino, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command; and Army Gen. Paul J. LaCamera, commander of U.S. Forces Korea/Combined Forces Command/United Nations Command wait to testify before the House Armed Services Committee in Washington on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (EJ Hersom/Department of Defense)
Sending Ukraine needed ammunition and other military support helps deter China from using its growing military might in the Pacific, including against Taiwan, top U.S. defense officials told lawmakers on Wednesday.
Ely Ratner, the assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, told House lawmakers they should take up and pass the $95 billion security supplemental bill the Senate approved in February. The bill would provide some $60 billion in wartime funding for Ukrainian forces who have run low on ammunition along the front lines of their fight against Russia’s invading military.
“I think it is really important to underscore the degree to which standing with Ukraine will help strengthen deterrence in the Indo-Pacific,” Ratner told the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday during a hearing to examine the U.S. military posture in the region. “It will demonstrate that there are costs and consequences for this kind of violence and that the free world will come together.”
Despite the Senate’s 70-29 passage of the bipartisan bill Feb. 13, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., declined to bring the bill up for a vote in the lower chamber, citing its lack of new funding for U.S. southern border security. Johnson has faced growing pressure, including from the Pentagon, to bring the bill to the floor.
Several House lawmakers have said they expected the bill would quickly pass if brought forward. Rep. Bill Keating, D-Mass., said Wednesday that passing the bill would send a strong deterrent message to both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping about U.S. commitment to its partners.
“We’re sitting here now talking about deterrence,” Keating said, praising Ratner and Navy Adm. John Aquilino, who heads U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, for linking Ukraine aid to Indo-Pacific stability. “It’s March 20, and we’re sitting here not acting on Ukraine assistance that’s so vital as a deterrent, because if we fail there, it’s just going to send a signal that counteracts all the good [deterrent] work … that you’re involved in [in the INDOPACOM region]. So, let’s hope we can get that done.”
In addition to Ukraine funding, the supplemental would provide billions of dollars in support to Israel, civilians in Gaza and U.S. service members in the Middle East. It also would include some $4.8 billion in support for U.S. partners in the Indo-Pacific, namely Taiwan.
Navy Adm. John Aquilino, left, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and Army Gen. Paul J. LaCamera, commander of U.S. Forces Korea/Combined Forces Command/United Nations Command, prepare to testify at a House Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (EJ Hersom/Department of Defense)
Aquilino, who is set to retire this year after leading INDOPACOM since 2021, said the Taiwanese have watched closely since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The admiral said the attack served as a “pretty good wake-up signal” for Taiwan to take seriously the potential of a Chinese attack on its sovereignty.
China has long viewed the democratically governed island nation as its own territory, and Xi has claimed so-called “reunification” between Taiwan and the mainland is inevitable. China’s military is likely to be prepared to invade Taiwan by 2027, Aquilino wrote in his prepared testimony.
He told lawmakers on Wednesday he believed that if attacked, the Taiwanese people would stand up to China, but they would rely heavily on U.S. weapons and support.
China has spent recent years building up the world’s largest navy and will soon have the largest air force on the globe, Aquilino said Wednesday. Despite dips in its economy in recent years, China has continued to bolster its military spending by some 7% each year — building a modern nuclear arsenal and advancing its capabilities in space, long-range missiles and other areas critical to conducting large scale combat operations, the admiral said.
But despite China’s military growth and its destabilizing actions — including building artificial, militarized islands in disputed parts of the South China Sea and flying combat aircraft and sailing military vessels close to Taiwan — Aquilino insisted that “conflict is not imminent or inevitable” in the Indo-Pacific.
In fact, the admiral said, Xi would prefer to convince Taiwan to reunite with China peacefully.
“They’re taking all actions to attempt to get the Taiwanese to capitulate,” Aquilino said. “Now, I don’t see that happening.”
Ratner told the House lawmakers that the U.S. military remains more capable than China’s in most areas, but the Chinese are rapidly advancing. He said China presents “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to our national security” of any other global threat, because China “remains the only country with the will and increasingly the capability to dominate the Indo-Pacific region and displace the United States.”
Despite the challenges, Ratner said INDOPACOM’s nearly 400,000 troops are well-positioned to ensure stability in the region, which covers nearly half of the world’s land.
“Deterrence in the Indo-Pacific is real and strong,” Ratner said. “And we’re doing everything we can to keep it that way.”
