Pentagon: Despite Russia's war, China still top threat to US

WASHINGTON (AP) — China remains the greatest security challenge for the United States despite Russia's war in Ukraine, and the threat from Beijing will determine how the U.S. military is equipped and shaped for the future, according to a new Pentagon defense strategy. 

While the document released Thursday says that conflict with China "is neither inevitable nor desirable,” it describes an effort to prevent Beijing's “dominance of key regions” — a clear reference to its aggressive military buildup in the South China Sea and increased pressure on the self-governing island of Taiwan. It warns that China is working to undermine American alliances in the Indo-Pacific and use its growing military to coerce and threaten neighbors. 

At the same time, the 80-page, unclassified report notes Russia's war in Ukraine and says Moscow is a serious threat to the U.S. and its allies, with nuclear weapons, cyber operations and long-range missiles. And it warns that as China and Russia continue to grow as partners, they “now pose more dangerous challenges to safety and security at home, even as terrorist threats persist.” 

“The international security environment has deteriorated since 2018,” the year the last defense strategy was released, said a senior defense official who briefed Pentagon reporters on the contents on the condition of anonymity before the report's release. “For the first time, we will have to deter two major nuclear armed competitors, both Russia and China. This presents new dilemmas.”