China’s navy has significant advantages over its US rival, including a bigger fleet and greater shipbuilding capacity, as Beijing seeks to project its power across the oceans, the head of the United States Navy said Tuesday.
Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, US Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said China “consistently attempts to violate the maritime sovereignty and economic well-being of other nations including our allies in the South China Sea and elsewhere.”
“They got a larger fleet now so they’re deploying that fleet globally,” he said, adding that Washington must upgrade the US fleet in response.
“We do need a larger Navy, we do need more ships in the future, more modern ships in the future, in particular that can meet that threat,” he said.
China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy could be fielding up to 400 ships in the coming years, the Navy secretary said – up from about 340 now.Meanwhile, the US fleet sits at under 300 ships
According to the US Navy’s Navigation Plan 2022 released last summer, the Pentagon’s goal is to have 350 manned ships by 2045 – still well short of the projection for China’s fleet.
Before that target is met, however, the US fleet is expected to shrink as older vessels are retired, according to a November report from the US Congressional Budget Office.
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Del Toro’s claims
Del Toro said Tuesday that US naval shipyards can’t match the output of Chinese ones. As with fleet size, it’s about numbers.
“They have 13 shipyards, in some cases their shipyard has more capacity – one shipyard has more capacity than all of our shipyards combined. That presents a real threat,” he claimed.
Del Toro did not give a breakdown of those shipyards, but Chinese and Western reports say China has six major and two smaller shipyards building naval vessels.
In the US, seven shipyards produce large and deep draft ships for the US Navy and Coast Guard, according to an October report from Brent Sadler at the Center for National Defense.
ولكن بغض النظر عن عدد أحواض بناء السفن ، فإنها تحتاج إلى عمال ، ويقول ديل تورو إن الصين لديها ميزة عددية هناك ، ويرجع ذلك إلى حد كبير إلى أنها خالية من القيود واللوائح والضغوط الاقتصادية التي تؤثر على العمالة في الولايات المتحدة.
وقال إن إحدى المشكلات الأمريكية الكبيرة هي العثور على العمالة الماهرة.
وقال قائد البحرية: "عندما تكون البطالة أقل من 4٪ ، فهذا يجعل الأمر تحديا حقيقيا سواء كنت تحاول العثور على عمال لمطعم أو كنت تحاول العثور على عمال لحوض بناء السفن".
وقال أيضا إن الصين يمكنها القيام بأشياء لا تستطيع الولايات المتحدة القيام بها.
وقال: "إنهم دولة شيوعية، وليس لديهم قواعد يلتزمون بها".
"إنهم يستخدمون العمل بالسخرة في بناء سفنهم ، صحيح - هذه ليست الطريقة التي يجب أن نؤدي بها أعمالنا على الإطلاق ، ولكن هذا ما نواجهه ، لذا فهو يمثل ميزة كبيرة" ، كما زعم.
تواصلت CNN مع وزارة الخارجية الصينية للرد على مزاعم ديل تورو.