U.S. Congress Passes National Defense Authorization Act Targeting China

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo Yoo-jin] The U.S. Congress has passed next year's defense budget aimed at curbing China's military and technological power expansion.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Politico on the 15th (local time), the U.S. Senate approved the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes a record $768 billion (approximately 908 trillion KRW) defense budget, with 89 votes in favor and 10 against during a full session. Earlier, the House of Representatives also passed the bill last week with over 80% approval.

The defense budget is $25 billion more than what the Biden administration proposed. The increased budget includes items such as weapons procurement, research and development to enhance military technology, and military buildup to counter China and Russia.

The new bill focuses on comprehensively blocking provocations from China and Russia, which the Biden administration has set as a top priority. To counter China's military buildup, $7.2 billion was allocated to the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI), which involves deploying missile systems and detection systems in the Indo-Pacific region. This amount is $2 billion more than what the Department of Defense requested.

Emphasizing the need to strengthen alliances in the Indo-Pacific region to counter China, the bill maintains the current 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. However, the provision that prohibited using the budget to reduce the number of U.S. troops in South Korea below 28,500 was removed.

Concerns have arisen that the removal of this provision, which was added during the Donald Trump administration to prevent troop reductions in South Korea without consultation, could allow for troop cuts at any time. However, the U.S. administration has dismissed the possibility of downsizing.

Additionally, the bill mandates research to closely respond to traditional and emerging threats, including Russia and China, and requires the Department of Defense to establish and report on a "grand strategy" to counter China, including hypersonic missile testing.

Furthermore, a 2.7% pay raise for military personnel and $300 million for training and equipment support for Ukrainian defense forces amid growing concerns over a Russian invasion were allocated. The bill also includes provisions to establish an independent commission to review the 20-year Afghanistan war and to set up training and data collection centers to respond to cyberattacks.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed said, "The United States faces a broad range of security challenges, and it is more important than ever to provide the resources necessary to keep America safe."

He added, "From this perspective, this bill represents significant progress," and said, "It will address urgent issues in strategic competition with China and Russia, including advanced technologies such as hypersonic missiles, artificial intelligence (AI), and quantum computing, as well as modernization of military forces."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.