"As the COVID-19 pandemic drags on and its economic toll grows, politicians and observers on both sides of the U.S. political divide have called for cuts to the national security budget in order to free up funds for more pressing items. According to this logic, the defense budget is bloated, the federal deficit continues to climb, and the Department of Defense could, and should, do more with less..." Read the full article here: Full Article

"Allies and partners are absolutely essential for the United States in a world increasingly defined by great power competition, above all with China. Indeed, they lie at the very heart of the right U.S. strategy for this era, which I believe the Department of Defense’s 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) lays out..." Read the full testimony here: Full Testimony

"Bipartisanship is exotic these days in the United States, but the two parties do share something: a deep concern about China. Asked in February at the Munich Security Conference whether she agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump’s China policy, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi remarked dryly but tellingly: 'We have agreement in that regard.' Legislation supporting Hong Kong and Taiwan and sanctioning Chinese officials easily passed Congress this year. Unlike in the past, today China has few—if any—friends in the [...]

"Elbridge Colby, a former senior Pentagon official, said greater clarity on Taiwan was very valuable because US 'credibility is already on the line'. "'It's better for us to be quietly but resolutely clear that we would effectively defend Taiwan, and for China to understand that as well,' said Mr. Colby..." Read the full article here: Full Article

"Although all Republicans are unified on the need to counter China’s power, Colby and Mitchell see the struggle less ideologically than many of their compatriots, and more in line with Trump’s personal view. The China challenge, Colby told me, has more to do with rising Chinese power than with the Chinese Communist Party. The risk to the American people is that China 'could dominate the world’s wealthiest region and shape the global economy and global order in ways that are detrimental [...]

"'If there is still anybody in India who thought that a nice peaceful relationship with Beijing was a possibility, that’s gone,' said Elbridge Colby, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense during the Trump administration. "'It’s going to put a lot of those traditional hindrances farther and farther behind us. This old trope that the U.S. and India is the partnership of the future and always will be—that’s no longer the case...'" Read the full article here: Full Article

"Elbridge Colby, a former senior Pentagon official who worked on the national defence strategy, said: 'Our goal should be to ensure a lot of space between China and Russia.' He added that the US should reduce irritants in the relationship with Moscow..." Read the full article here: Full Article

"'I think what Beijing is pursuing — and it’s a rational interest — is hegemonic authority over Asia,' said Elbridge Colby, the former Pentagon official who was the main writer of the Trump administration’s National Defense Strategy, which focuses on how the American military should reshape itself for great-power competition with Russia and particularly China... "'We need to change things on Taiwan to improve the deterrent and make clearer where we stand,' said Mr. Colby, who added that the United States [...]

"Some of the moves have been fueled by the coronavirus pandemic, which has 'clarified' the competition with China in the public sphere, said Elbridge Colby, a former deputy assistant secretary of Defense. 'Covid has made it clear that we are in a situation of competition … to the American people,' he said..." Read the full article here: Full Article