New US Military Budget Focused on China

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan goes before the Senate Armed Services Committee to discuss the Department of Defense budget, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on March 14, 2019. J. Scott Applewhite/AP

WASHINGTON—Chinese bombers. Chinese hypersonic missiles. Chinese cyberattacks. Chinese anti-satellite weapons.

To a remarkable degree, the 2020 Pentagon budget proposal is shaped by national security threats that acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has summarized in three words: “China, China, China.”