WASHINGTON — An influential congressional advisory body warned in its annual report that strategic and systemic competition between the United States and China continues to intensify as Beijing forges ahead with its ambitious plans to surpass American power.
The 741-page report, released Nov. 14 by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, paints a sobering picture of China’s rapid military buildup and pursuit of global influence through a variety of means. And it warns that managing this complex rivalry will remain a top national security priority for the foreseeable future.
“The new normal is one of continuing, long-term strategic and systemic competition,” the report said. According to the commission, the People’s Republic of China is pouring “unprecedented” resources into modernizing its military, with a focus on breakthroughs in missiles, space, undersea warfare and artificial intelligence.
The report underscores the ways in which Beijing seeks to shape global affairs to its benefit, from military coercion to technology acquisition to influence operations, and makes it clear that the United States faces a formidable strategic competitor.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, established in 2000, is an independent agency of the U.S. government that directly reports to Congress and the president.
“Although a sustained economic slowdown could force difficult choices and tradeoffs, China continues to pour resources into its unprecedented military buildup,” the report said.
Efforts to shape international norms
In sectors like space and cyberspace, the commission said, China seeks to shape international law in its favor by discrediting established norms, exporting authoritarian elements of its legal system, and influencing laws and norms development.
Efforts to shape international law are especially focused on areas Chinese jurists call “frontier law” — in emerging fields like…
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