The Secretary of the Navy expressed concern that China’s naval presence has more ships than America’s and is expanding more quickly than the United States is currently able to match.
China’s Fleet Grows
In comments delivered on Wednesday, DC, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro stated it is no surprise that the People’s Republic of China aims to upset the balance of who holds the power on the water.
Around one hundred new fighters have recently joined the Chinese navy’s force, according to Del Toro. He then described the move as a naval expansion that is a critical element of its increasingly assertive military stance abroad.
Del Toro estimates that the People’s Liberation Army Navy of China currently has 340 vessels. Though the precise figure isn’t clear; the US Navy claims that its fleet has over 280 warships prepared for deployment. It has fewer than 300.
Del Toro claimed that China intended to have 440 ships in its fleet by 2030, significantly exceeding the Pentagon’s declared objective of 350 manned vessels by that time.
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Daily Mail: China's naval fleet is growing and the US 'can't keep up' with the warship buildup as Beijing uses… https://t.co/NFe5AhDZMM Thank you. pic.twitter.com/Vi17SmiHMl
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Most American citizens’ warning alarms have now rung as a result of a Chinese spy balloon entering U.S. airspace, according to Del Toro.
He did, though, add that a lot of Americans were unaware of China’s “continuous” efforts to infringe on the nautical independence and economic security of other countries. This particularly includes American partners and business associates in the South China Sea and anywhere else.
China, which claims a sizable portion of the South China Sea as its own, but is not acknowledged by international law, has become more belligerent in current history.
China’s contempt for the regulations regarding international peace is particularly upsetting, according to Del Toro.
China's naval fleet is growing and the US 'can't keep up' with the warship buildup as Beijing uses its sea power to project an 'increasingly aggressive military posture globally,' Navy warns
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The Chinese Communist Party’s beliefs, he continued, are inconsistent with personal rights, freedom, and the protection of human rights.
As per CNN, Del Toro asserted that China has 13 ports, one of which has a construction capacity higher than all US yards put together, and that China’s shipbuilding capability considerably surpasses that of the US.
With 11 Navy aircraft carriers versus China’s three, the US continues to hold a significant advantage in this regard. Also, it has apparently been difficult for China to adequately staff its carriers with ship-based fighter jet pilots.
Though, according to experts, the larger total fleet nearly always has a clear edge in a comprehensive naval conflict.
Americans Start to Worry
Such caution was published last month in the January edition of the US Naval Institute’s Proceedings publication by AM Tangredi, the Leidos Chair of Future Combat Studies at the US Naval War College and a retired US Navy captain.
According to his examination of 25 historical maritime battles, all but three of them were won by the team with the bigger force.
