China Seeking to Consolidate Power in Asia, Drive Other Nations Away From US: Geopolitical Strategist

A People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force WZ-7 high-altitude reconnaissance drone is pictured a day before the 13th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai in southern China's Guangdong Province, on Sept. 27, 2021. Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

At its 2023 “Two Sessions” political meeting on March 5, China’s Communist Party announced that this year’s military budget will be 1,553.7 billion yuan ($225 billion)—an annual increase of 7.2 percent and the regime’s second-highest spend in the last five years.

China is seeking to consolidate its position as an Asian superpower, and to use its military expansion to drive other nations in the region away from the United States, according to John Sitilides, geopolitical strategist at Trilogy Advisors.