Meeting China’s Military Challenge

Collective Responses of U.S. Allies and Partners

On February 16, 2022, the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) convened a bicameral, bipartisan informational briefing for Congressional staff to discuss the findings of its recent report. The report was authored by leading experts from six countries—Australia, India, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam—who outlined these countries’ perspectives on China’s military challenge and how, in partnership with the United States and each other, they can counterbalance China’s unwelcome advances.

Speakers noted the specific elements of China’s deterrent, coercive, and warfighting capabilities deemed most threatening to regional security and offered proposals for how the six Indo-Pacific governments could partner with the United States and each other to effectively counter those capabilities. The panelists highlighted the perspectives of Australia and Taiwan, and outlined key components of the AUKUS agreement could be implemented in 2022 to address urgent vulnerabilities. The participants also proposed ways in which regional allies and partners can collectively deepen cooperation to meet objectives set out in the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, such as improving joint and enabling capabilities and overall U.S. posture in the region.

Participants

Panelists

Bates Gill
Professor of Asia-Pacific Security Studies and Head of the Department of Security Studies and Criminology at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia

Michael Shoebridge
Director of the Defence, Strategy and National Security Program at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI)

Paul Huang
Research Fellow, Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation

Moderator

Joshua Nezam
Director of Congressional Affairs, The National Bureau of Asian Research