From the U.S. perspective, it is not Russia but China that poses the greatest threat to its interests. The new National Defense Strategy warns against China’s attempts to reshape the international system in its favor. A clear warning also goes out toward North Korea.
U.S. forces continue to view China as the greatest security challenge, despite “grave threats” from Russia. The new U.S. National Defense Strategy released by the Pentagon says Russia poses “grave threats to both key U.S. national interests abroad and at home.” The Russian invasion of Ukraine, among other things, illustrates this, it said. What is needed is a “robust deterrent” against Moscow.
The greatest challenge, however, would be China’s “coercive and increasingly aggressive efforts” to “reshape the Indo-Pacific region and the international system to fit its interests and authoritarian preferences,” the document says. Reference is made in particular to the Chinese leadership’s rhetoric toward Taiwan. Beijing views the island as a breakaway province that should be reunited with the mainland – by military force if necessary.
In addition to the new National Defense Strategy, the U.S. Department of Defense released a new Nuclear Weapons Strategy. It emphasizes that U.S. nuclear weapons serve as a deterrent against “all forms of strategic attack.” “This includes nuclear missions of any size, and it includes strategic attacks with severe consequences by non-nuclear means.”
The Pentagon sends a clear warning to North Korea in the document. “Any nuclear attack by North Korea against the U.S. or its allies and partners is unacceptable and will lead to the end of the regime. There is no scenario in which the Kim regime could use nuclear weapons and survive,” it says, referring to North Korea’s strongman Kim Jong Un. North Korea had recently conducted a series of missile tests, drawing sharp international criticism. There are also fears that Pyongyang could soon carry out another nuclear bomb test.
Source of the news: https://www.n-tv.de/
