China Is Relying More on Its Military to Achieve Political Goals

China is relying more heavily on its armed forces to achieve foreign policy goals, top U.S. Department of Defense officials said on Monday, as the East Asian country presses forward in its efforts to match the U.S. in terms of military might.

In a talk hosted by the Atlantic Council think tank, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for China, Taiwan and Mongolia Michael Chase highlighted the key findings of the China Military Power Report, which the Pentagon published last week.

In recent years, as China's military capabilities have expanded, the Chinese Communist Party government has wielded these powers more readily, and Ratner called this a "really important change."

Chase expressed hope that China would resume military-to-military talks at the leadership level, which he stressed would be important in order to avoid incidents like the 2001 collision between a U.S. Navy plane and a Chinese fighter jet. The Defense Department has said that Beijing has closed off the top lines of communication.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who has called China a "pacing threat," unsuccessfully tried to engage with his Chinese counterpart, then-defense chief Li Shangfu, at a defense summit in Singapore in June. Li was formally dismissed by the Chinese government on Tuesday.

As examples, Chase pointed to the increasing number of Chinese military sorties over the Taiwan Strait, and the major exercises around the island country following then-U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's visit in the summer of last year and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's more recent trip to the U.S.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., hadn't responded to Newsweek's request for comment by the time of publication.

The China Military Power Report listed what the Pentagon believes are the six most likely catalysts of a potential war between Beijing and Taipei, which would risk drawing the U.S. and its allies into a wider conflict.

The report also details China's advances in military and dual-use technology, its expanding nuclear arsenal and ballistic missile repertoire, and military strategy and posture in potential flashpoints like the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.

It paints a picture of an increasingly nuclear-capable China, now estimated to possess more than 500 operational nuclear warheads, up from approximately 400 two years ago. That's still far behind the stockpiles of Russia and the U.S., which each boast over 5,000. China is also boosting and diversifying its collection of intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Update 10/24/23, 5:45 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.