US ready to counter China with a Senate approved $777.7Bn defence budget

COLOMBO (News 1st): As US President Joe Biden pulled out troops from Afghanistan several months ago, attention is now being shifted towards China, the US clearly views it as a threat as tensions have been rising between the two super powers.

Several US legislators cited countering China as a top priority in the defence budget, formally known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The US Senate formidably passed the budget legislation on Wednesday (15) in an 89-10 vote, following the US House of Representatives, which approved the legislation last week.

The United States Congress approved a $777.7Bn defence budget, a 5% increase from last year, and subsequently, the Congress provided the Biden administration with $24Bn more than it sanctioned for, taking annual defence spending above its most recent peak of $740Bn reached in Trump’s final year in office.

Moreover, Washington recently announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, citing appalling Chinese human rights violations.

Although, none of the outstanding issues between Washington and Beijing has a military solution that would justify increasing defence spending, the US clearly wants to be will equipped if in any case, were to engage in a military confrontation with China – a nuclear power – which could be an “unprecedented catastrophe”.

With a Pentagon budget more than double that of Russia and China combined, the United States is by far the world's top military spender.